Code Lyoko: The Forewarned
by Starke
Summary: XANA is gone, but science moves forward, slowly discovering quantum technology. The Lyoko Warriors alone know the danger it holds for the entire planet.  Without RTTP, they fight a shadow war against AIs and humans to save the world from its creations.
1. Development Status and Update Board

This project is intended to span roughly 50 episodes, 1250 pages, and 500,000 words. Given that updates will generally be every 15-30 days, I will be writing for 2-4 years. There is a discussion about this project over at the Code Lyoko Veterans forum (veterans dot codelyokounited dot com slash viewtopic dot php), at [?f=9&t=67016], and more information, including pictures of the development process, is available at [?f=9&t=67083#p10903292]. (Type in the base address, then add the extension, without the brackets.)

**Current Status:**

-on hold, pending the submission of the author's college applications

**Updates and progress:**

07/21/11 Update 1: Interlude complete.

07/27/11 Update 2: Basic long-term outline complete.

07/30/11 Update 3: Story published on Code Lyoko Veterans forum.

08/06/11 Update 4: Episode one complete.

08/07/11 Update 5: Rules and Limits of Technology edited for general consumption and published (was intended as an internal reference document).

08/08/11 Update 6: Next five episodes storyboarded.

08/13/11 Update 7: Episode two complete.

08/15/11 Update 8: Story published on FanFiction dot Net.

08/24/11 Update 9: Pause in writing, detailed long-term storyboard being written.

08/25/11 Update 10: Computer tools deemed inadequate, using color-coded flashcards.

08/28/11 Update 11: Have run out of space for storyboard. Adding 4ft x 8ft tackboard above desk to continue detailed storyboard.

09/05/11 Update 12: Tackboard constructed and installed.

09/05/11 Update 13: Development Status Board added.

09/11/11 Update 14: Long-term storyboard complete.

09/13/11 Update 15: Episode-by-episode storyboarding for the remainder of season one begun.

09/16/11 Update 16: The Forewarned has been put on hold due to college applications. Major work will resume after applications are complete.

09/25/11 Update 17: Rules and Limits of Technology overhauled and updated.


	2. Optional Reference Doc: Technology

**The first chapter is NOT required reading. It extensively covers the technology that will be used over the course of the story. It is intended for hardcore Code Lyoko fans or those interested in gaining a more complete understanding of the overall universe ONLY. It is dense reading, NOT designed for entertainment. Continue and read the next chapter. Once engaged in the story, you may return here to get more insight on the technology underpinning the adventure. Please continue to the next chapter.**

* * *

><p>SCANNERS:<p>

Scanners are incredibly powerful devices that are capable of detecting the position and velocity of every single particle within their field of view. When the individual is virtualized, their body is atomized by the intense magnetic field and is obliterated. The scanner, however, retains the information and uses it to reconstruct the body, particle by particle, upon rematerialization.

While virtualization is a relatively painless, although somewhat disturbing, process, dematerialization is very uncomfortable, accompanied by a burning sensation and the feeling of suffocation, both resulting from having your atoms reassembled.

The scanner is responsible for three tasks: scanning the human body so that it can be reconstructed later, and taking the brain imprint and shunting the pattern into the quantum computer, where it is placed in it's virtual body, and reassembling the body upon command to allow rematerialization. The virtual body is originally created by the disembodied mind itself on it's first trip into the quantum matrix - the mind's subconscious is queried by the computer as to what it "looks" like, its inner nature, and virtual shell is generated by refining and extrapolating upon the neural response. After the initial trip, the virtual body is simply loaded and the mind placed in control it by the scanner upon virtualization. Upon devirtualization, the virtual body is destroyed, and the mind is shunted back into the scanner to be reunited with the individual's real body. A different virtual body can be generated by the same individual by removing the link between the user and the previously created virtual body so that the brain is re-queried for a "self-image," but the result will be identical unless the individual's subconscious self-image has been altered since the last query, meaning that only very minor changes usually result. Moreover, one can only use a virtual body generated by their own mind, and only the virtual body that resulted from the latest self-image. In addition, the massive amount of computer power required to generate a complete virtual body surpasses even that of a quantum computer, necessitating the use of a living brain (the hardware) and the subconscious (the operating system), only available during the moment of virtualization. It is possible to deliberately modify an existing virtual body with a quantum computer, but only superficial changes are possible with the current processing power.

Scanners are essentially Replicators from Star Trek - with one crucial difference. They store a pattern containing the exact position and velocity of every particle that is inside the scanner (normally a violation of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle), and store in quantum memory. It is theoretically possible for this information to be stored in conventional memory, but no conventional computer exists with enough memory to even approach feasibly. Because quantum memory is used, any attempt to manipulate the pattern stored causes a collapse in the qubits. Normally, this would cause total loss of the stored information, and therefore the permanent loss of the individual in the scanner; they could never be devirtualized, as there would be no body for their mind to return to, and would die a true death if their virtual body collapsed. However, the scanner's qubits are configured so that when the qubits collapse, the pattern of the collapse shunts the data they contained into the mass-manipulation matrix, resulting in rematerialization. Because of this curious property, the pattern is stored safely, but cannot be copied or otherwise manipulated. Note, however, that if conventional storage methods sufficiently to allow the storage of patterns without quantum memory, it would be feasible, and in fact rather simple, to devise a "replicator."

The virtual body dissipates after a certain amount of damage has been taken to ensure the integrity of the brain pattern so that it is returned undamaged to the real body. It is completely possible to place inanimate objects inside the scanner and virtualize them. Because they contain no mind in need of preservation, they can stay on the matrix indefinitely, regardless of damage, and will be returned to the scanner only on command. But because they have no mind, they do not reside within a true virtual shell, like animates do; when a shell (virtual body) takes damage, it loses integrity and approaches the threshold at which it risks brain-pattern damage if it does not dissipate, but is in no way diminished in functionality. With inanimate objects, however, they do not possess a shell, and therefore take damage as they would in reality, with each attack have the potential to disable or otherwise impair the object, but with no forced devirtualization threshold. It is theoretically possible to override the forced-dematerialization command, allowing the virtual shell to continue operating significantly past the threshold. Additional damage past the threshold would have a significant affect on the brain pattern contained within the virtual shell, causing a degradation in mental capacities, culminating with complete pattern loss. Even if dematerialized before then, extreme brain damage would be the certain result.

With enough quantum memory linked to the scanners, a mass of any size can be virtualized. However, with the already massive amount of memory tied into the scanners, each scanner is has a total parallel storage limit of about 500 kilograms, with an upper safe limit of 150 kilograms per transfer.

Because the mind is still needed to control the virtual shell, and it needs to be reintegrated with the memory of the virtual event, special procedures are needed. When the brain is materialized, it is atomized and effectively destroyed, along with the rest of the body. And like the body, its pattern will be stored by the scanner. But unlike the rest of the body, the scanner reconstructs a perfect, virtual replica of the entire brain - down to the very last atom. It is a "simulation," just like Lyoko, but thanks to the scanner, a simulation with perfect accuracy. As far as the mind is concerned, it is the original. It controls the virtual shell, making full use of the experience it has accumulated, and storing the new memories. Materialization is a two-step process. The pattern of the brain is reintegrated separately from the rest of the body for a fraction of a second. The scanner uses the virtual simulation as a template, and tweaks the very structure of the atoms making up the neurons of the brain, changing them until it is an exact reflection of the simulation. Then it is reunited with the rest of the individual's body. In a controlled materialization, the process is "smoother," with very little impact to the brain tissue. In a forced materialization, the process does put some stress on the brain. Although there is no lasting effects, multiple repetitions within a short timeframe do have to potential to cause brain damage. A twelve-hour rest period is advised.

* * *

><p>THE PROPERTIES OF MASS:<p>

Although functionally identical, matter coded into existence on the matrix and matter virtualized from reality are fundamentally different; matter virtualized cannot be augmented with code in the matrix, nor can the virtual shells created by the mental queries.

Mass created on Lyoko is coded into existence. Slabs and simple constructs can take only minutes to create, while complex machines could take months to perfect. It is also somewhat fragile, even when on Lyoko. After a sufficient amount of it's coded mass has been damaged, the construct violently loses cohesion. Coded mass refers to the amount of coding required to create the mass damaged by the attack; attacks on code-dense areas such as motors, joints, logic processors, etc. will disable entities that are 'native' to Lyoko or other virtual worlds much faster than attacks on armor plating or structural elements (although damage to structural elements will still impair functionality).

Note: Franz Hopper, as a safeguard against XANA, constructed monster blueprints with an unnecessary bundle of extremely code-rich mass, clearly denoted with an Eye of XANA, to serve as a 'kill-switch.' He also hard-coded this safeguard into XANA's monster-development routines. However, this safeguard is limited to XANA's creations only.

To recap, there are three different ''variations' of matter. Animate, which can be encased in a virtual shell, does not lessen in functionality with damage, but has a forced rematerialization threshold. Inanimate, which has no mind, and thus no virtual shell, allowing it to stay on Lyoko indefinitely, but loses functionality as it takes damage (like on Earth), and is rematerialized in the state it was on Lyoko. And virtual matter, which loses functionality similarly to inanimate matter, and implodes once a threshold percentage of its coding mass is damaged. And matter created on Lyoko can be sent into reality via the scanners, but once destroyed it is not returned to Lyoko.

* * *

><p>TELEPORTATION:<p>

A unique exception to many of the properties of mass is called teleportation, and allows for the extrusion of any mass existing on a virtual world of any of the three categories to be sent to Earth. This requires a quantum manifold, which in turn needs a massive amount of power and the activation of a tower. And the mass can only be sent to Earth within a radius around the supercomputer the quantum manifold and tower assembly is located in. The radius is tied into the computing power of the quantum computer itself; the Lyoko supercomputer, at the far upper end of the scale, can support teleportation within a 3-mile radius. With the most rudimentary quantum computers, the radius is approximately 500 feet. Teleported matter lasts about three minutes if it leaves the quantum field, and must return before then or experience forced deteleportation. Animate matter that has been virtualized and subsequently teleported is again encased in a virtual shell, and behaves identically to on Lyoko, with the exception that threshold damage only returns the individual to the origin of the teleport on the virtual world. Inanimate matter that has been teleported is encased only in an extremely weak virtual shell, generated by the quantum computer without the benefit of a brain, and is returned to the virtual world upon any significant impact (ex. a solid kick). Virtual matter behaves identically to inanimate matter when teleported, but is NOT returned to the virtual world upon the destabilization of its virtual shell.

* * *

><p>QUANTUM COMPUTERS:<p>

The ability of the supercomputer to enact a return in time was the product of some quantum linkage between the supercomputer and a device used by Project Carthage. After the device's destruction, Franz Hopper's unique position as a incorporeal entity inside the network allowed him to emulate the effect of the device and allow subsequent returns in time. He later stored the pattern for the returns in time within the quantum RAM of the supercomputer, which was wiped when the supercomputer was shut down. The ability to return in time has been lost.

Quantum computers allow for "simulations" that far exceed the complexity of those that have been performed on conventional computers. It is perfectly possible to create a virtual world on a conventional computer - in fact, one could argue that video games play on computers today do exactly that. But the required computer power for reasonably complex simulations far outstrips the capacity of current conventional computers.

By activating a quantum node (a.k.a. a tower), a quantum computer can force a signal through the usually impenetrable quantum sea to exert direct control of a conventional computer over the quantum network, with no delivery vehicle or virus required.

The quantum computers controlled by XANA were not built, or rather, not completed by scientists. XANA possessed scientists working on quantum computer projects and accelerated their progress to allow XANA to gain even more power. When XANA was destroyed by Jeremy's multi-agent system, it completely fried all of the quantum computers under XANA's control, making their components almost unrecognizable. In light of the highly competitive international race to develop quantum computers, theoretically capable of breaking even the most sophisticated encryption, information regarding the scientists that mysteriously disappeared, only to resurface months later without any memory of recent events, is classified top secret. Internal government investigations have turned up nothing of note, and it is officially attributed to exposure to an undocumented form of radiation produced by quantum manipulation, in particular the prototype quantum computers. A handful of 'testimonials' from alleged members of the science team that resisted the government gag order can be found floating around conspiracy websites, but no information regarding the event has reached the general public.

* * *

><p>VIRTUAL WORLDS:<p>

Virtual worlds have no absolute restrictions on their form.* No ecosystem is required. There is also no need for an atmosphere. There is no need for even a ground. Not even gravity is a must. Nothing is "needed." But gravity can be leveraged to create more efficient machines. In turn, these machines will fall off the edge of the simulation with a platform to stand on, so if you wish to create machines, a "ground" is required. "Air" can be used as a ready source of fuel. And beyond these basic needs, most beings, both animate (human) and AI, prefer the presence of a ground, gravity, landscape, and even pseudo-animals in their created environments. Trees can often be found, even a Sun. With the Earth as their template, they build a world.

*Although no absolute restrictions exist, tying functional equipment into virtual environments can impose some restrictions on the placement, shape, etc., of their virtual appearances.

AIs require a virtual environment in which to develop. In most cases, the AI's thought processes create the virtual world as a bi-product of their information processing; the embryonic virtual world is an extension of the AI's thought processes, and the thoughts being processed. The result can functionally be considered random clutter. As the AI develops, it begins to consciously create the world, making it more functional to suit its needs. However, it does not replace the preexisting non-functional elements, and instead works around and adapts to them, making each world created by an AI unique.

However, Lyoko was designed partly by Franz Hopper, in cooperation with the embryonic XANA. Lyoko is actually a very basic-level simulation, with only a very rudimentary virtual world containing little detail or terrain. It's only feature of note is the segmenting of terrain into interconnected areas. It's minimal complexity is a result of Franz Hopper's rush to produce a viable weapon to counter Project Carthage while under significant time restraints - even after he discovered the ability to reverse time, he had far more pressing concerns to deal with using the extra time, rather than create a virtual world with a higher polygon count. It is possible to create virtual worlds both far larger and far more detailed than Lyoko.

Like Lyoko, these simulations can be subdivided into different areas, connected by linkages, such as Lyoko's waytowers, which were a combination of both a quantum node and a waylink, which allow transportation between segmented areas of a virtual world.

The most important functional feature on any virtual world is the quantum node, known on Lyoko as a "tower." These not only allow access to a significant amount of computing power while still in the virtual environment, but also allow the manipulation of the quantum computer's quantum field to locally alter the laws of physics. In addition, they allow the quantum computer to force a signal through the quantum sea, normally impassible, to exert control over a computer, which acts as a foothold from which both electronic and physical attacks can be launched, like those experienced at Kadic Academy.

A virtual world can contain any number of quantum nodes, limited by the computing power of the quantum computer.

* * *

><p>THE QUANTUM SEA:<p>

The quantum sea itself is not a "thing." Rather, it the the lack of information, the void that occupies the empty space between terminals. Terminals are computers, both conventional and quantum. In the physical world, the intervening space is filled by the air, concrete, dirt, and whatever else lies between one computer on the Earth's surface and the millions of others. On the network, this space is the quantum sea. It is ruled by entropy; there is no order, no coherence. It is like the static on your TV screen or phone line - the embodiment of the fundamental randomness of our universe. It is as empty, foreboding, and dangerous as outer space. The danger of the quantum sea lies in its entropic properties. Information, data, cannot exist in the quantum sea. Even virtual mass, unless specially hardened, is also annihilated. Computers are the stars that create light in this sea of darkness, the islands of coherence in this sea of entropy. They are self-contained vessels within which logic, reason, and order can exist.

Space on the virtual network is directly correlated to space in the physical world. If a computer is turned on in a cubicle in an office building Iceland, it will exist in the same location in the quantum sea. If a second computer is turned on in a cubicle one floor below, it will exist in extremely close proximity to the first. Direction is arbitrary in the quantum sea. But if a third computer is turned on one floor above the first, the trio will form a straight line. Directions do exist, and are consistent with the physical world.

If a cable is run from the first computer to the second, the two computers are connected by a corresponding passageway in the virtual network, a tube through the virtual sea in which coherent information can pass. This is called a conduit. These passages also exist for wireless connections. For EVERY wireless connection, there is corresponding conduit winding through the quantum sea, connecting the two devices so that they may communicate. Now the first computer opens an internet browser and navigates to '.com'. A signal is sent to a router, then to another router, and another, and another, bouncing through the millions of conduits that bridge the void and make up the very Internet before eventually arriving, only milliseconds later, at the server of Google, thousands of miles away. In return, a second signal is sent, blazing through the same passageways, back to the first computer, containing the requested information.

Because all computers are on the outer surface of the Earth, and the physical and virtual worlds are mirror images, the entire network resembled a dense mass of terminals in a giant, hollow sphere. In the center in a huge void, where the earth resides in the physical world. The space contains no terminals, but is criss-crossed by thousands of conduits connecting devices to others on the far side of the world. There is no terrain, no landmarks, no obstacles in the quantum sea. Only entropy, terminals, and the conduits that connect them.

All computers have a terminal, giving access to the quantum sea. But not all terminals are created equal. The terminal of a quantum computer is limited to energy only; virtual mass cannot enter or exit a conventional computer - the hardware itself cannot support it. And energy cannot exist in the quantum sea. And so conventional computers interconnect themselves, billions upon billions of connections, allowing them to communicate across the void. This is the Internet. But the Internet is as limiting as it is powerful. Only quantum computers have the hardware required to support the entry and exit of virtual mass. When properly hardened, a virtual mass can exit a quantum computer and have complete freedom to move about the quantum sea, undetectable by conventional computers that rely on the conduits. A virtual mass can be programmed to navigate to a network routing hub, and inject an email, or a more malicious package. Any attempt to trace the message will end at the network routing hub. By navigating directly to a computer, a virus can be directly injected, bypassing firewalls designed only to guard the known gates (conduits) into the system. The quantum sea is effectively a backdoor into every computer in existence, unless properly guarded by a quantum lock.

These two modes of transporting objects and information define the rules of combat in this arena. Electronic attacks, such as viruses, flow through conduits, bouncing through the network in a matter of seconds. But simply severing the computer from the wired connections and eliminating wireless signal receptors can completely eliminate the threat. Even if still connected to the network, potent firewalls provide a strong layer of protection. Attacks carried out by mass moving through the quantum sea are far slower, but more difficult to stop. Short of shutting down the computer, there is no way to make a terminal impervious to attack. A quantum lock provides a layer of defense against intrusion, but given enough time, it will inevitably be breached, requiring active measures to neutralize the threat.

* * *

><p>ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE:<p>

Programs created on quantum computers have an astonishing tendency to expand and develop beyond their initial functions. Simple stimulus-and-reaction programs are stable, but the quantum processor matrix allows for vastly more complex creations. Programs designed for autonomous operation, data analysis, self-teaching, etc. rapidly extend their own programs, using the quantum memory to develop their own personality. It is also possible to code a program with a built-in personality, as XANA was. As groundbreaking as they are, AIs ability for extremely rapid growth makes them unstable, and therefore potentially extremely dangerous with their massive capabilities.

AI's learn extremely rapidly, but without any external controls, the massive influx of data overwhelms their preexisting processing capabilities. To compensate, they "tunnel vision," learning only about a single subject. This extreme knowledge imbalance results in very unstable personality-logic matrices.

XANA, for all its potential lethality, was a very crude and fundamentally damaged artificial intelligence. "His" creation involved a significant amount of trial and error, and Franz Hopper was under a time constraint, even with the ability to return the past. XANA was the first artificial intelligence ever created, and building an AI is a delicate process. Although he has the same astounding number-crunching capacity as any AI, his personality is malformed and his reasoning extremely illogical (ex. his obsession with the Lyoko Warriors).


	3. Prelude: The Missing Years

**This chapter is a summary of the events that took place in the year and a half between the shutdown of the supercomputer and it's subsequent reactivation. It is not required reading, and some of this information will be gradually introduced throughout the series. However, it is highly recommended.**

* * *

><p>As they close down the supercomputer, Jeremy makes a final memorial to their actions over the last two years: using his personal video-journal, and the audio recordings of all their Lyoko missions and phone calls, he makes a record of all their actions on Lyoko. Each of them, William included, gets a copy, heavily encrypted, so that they may never forget. With the supercomputer shut down, the ex-Lyoko Warriors now have to readjust to living a life without the danger and secrecy they have become so used to. As they all adjust to their new life, William matures into a more responsible student. His memories begin to return, and although he is scarred and horrified by them, they also drive him to recognize the struggle they went through over the years of fighting without him, and feels bonded to them by the ordeal he went through. It had a humbling effect on him, and as he grew more down-to-earth and less arrogant in his approach to life, he is slowly accepted into their circle of friendship. The end of the year approaches quickly as they adapt to their new lives. With no need to stay behind at school to keep watch on XANA, they all go their separate ways for summer. Without a house of her own to go to, Aelita spends half the time at Jeremy's house with his family, and the other half at Yumi's house, posing again as her pen-pal. She even spends a week at William's house. Up in the hills, his parents have a large house and pool. Grateful to her that she does not hate him or blame him for the loss of her father, they become good friends and go over their the good times and bad times of their journey. William's parents were initially cold to the idea of having Aelita stay, but warm to her over the course of the visit.<p>

* * *

><p>Come school-time again, they advance into the 10th and 11th grades. School is as hard as ever, but with their factory days behind them and help from Jeremy and Aelita, their grades slowly but surely rise. William's parents meet the gang together for the first time, and voice approval of his friends, something William is unaccustomed to hear from his parents after his expulsion from his last school. Although he still had feelings for Yumi, he approves when Ulrich finally asks her out, and shortly after that he begins going out with Emily himself, a girl that Ulrich had also liked. Jeremy also asks Aelita out, and they go to the theaters often, and activity Aelita particularly enjoys. Now without the burden of the supercomputer, their group continues to grow, the group making good on their promise to be nicer to Sissi, who is surprisingly willing to talk to both Yumi and Aelita, and along with the presence of Emily becomes a circle of friends within the larger group. William, Odd, and Ulrich also make a habit of spending more time together. Although the group has grown, they all stay together, Aelita's concerts in particular acting as a focal point. When the others are not around, the original five Lyoko warriors return sporadically to the factory to hang out and think back, and on the weekends occasionally one of them will travel there alone, only to find another already there, reminiscing. Although they are tempted slightly, they remain resolute to keep the supercomputer turned off. Yumi's family has grown once more, and she now has a younger sister, Hoshu. Although her parents still have their differences, they grow closer again out of their love for their newest child. Ulrich's parents have divorced, and he lives with his mom during the summer, who makes a living working at a nearby bank. Aelita, after searching the web, has found that she has some extended family living out of the county on her mother' side. Although part of her yearns to contact them and recover what she can of her old life, she ultimately sees that doing so would only lose her all that she has gained since then, and she refrains. This summer, she stays at William's house and Jeremy's house, where she also sees Michael, Jeremy's cousin, and she and Jeremy learn that he will be attending Kadic the following year.<p>

* * *

><p>Now in 11th and 12th grade, many things have changed. Mr. Delmas is beginning to show his age. The school is growing, adding the newest 6th grade class, but also new students for each of the existing grades. To accommodate them, new teachers are being added, and a new dorm building is being built in one corner of the campus. Jeremy gets to reintroduce Michael back to the new, expanded group. And the gang gets another jolt as well, as Taelia also returns to Kadic, after a brief stay several years ago. Her shockingly similar looks to Aelita and somewhat harsh personality put her at odds with with Aelita, and by extension the entire group. Taelia seems to be keeping an eye one them, but without the factory, they have nothing to hide. They have almost completely ceased visiting the factory, and life continues as normal. Millie and Tamiya have begun to step up the school paper's professionalism, having recruited Johnny as an editor, Theo as a newscaster, as well as three new students, Sasha, Carrie, and Thomas, into their news service. Michael even pitches in to make them a new cover design. Johnny asks Millie out on a date, and is teased by Hiroki, who is secretly jealous. But the team's peace will not last forever.<p> 


	4. Emergence, Episode One

Season One: Emergence

Episode One

Laughter. No one would ever accuse the cafeteria of being quiet, but it is especially noisy this morning. Sissi laughs again, and the laughs of Yumi and Aelita join it.

"At least he's learned to eat with his mouth closed." says Yumi, trying not to laugh again.

"But that doesn't stop the food from getting all over his mouth!" jokes Aelita, and Sissi and Yumi start laughing again.

"Ah, you three are just jealous," says Odd indifferently, taking another huge bite out of his croissant. "I can eat as much as I want, without gaining a pound."

"Come to think of it Odd, you could use a few extra pounds," Ulrich breaks in, pointing at Odd with his spoon.

This time the whole table joins in on the laughter, prompting a few looks from the new class of 6th graders scattered about the crowded cafeteria. The table is slightly overcrowded, but nobody really minds the the tight squeeze. Ulrich, Odd, William, Jeremy, and Theo sit along the right side of the table, which is located in the center of the cafeteria. Theo is reading a newspaper, Odd is working on his croissant, and Jeremy is gulping down his cereal in a hurry. Along the opposite side sits Sissi, Aelita, Emily, Yumi, and Patrick. The girls are happily chatting, and Patrick is talking across the table with Theo about the last pro soccer game. Everyone has a bowl of cereal or oatmeal in front of them, as well as one of Kadic's signature croissants, but with the exception of only a few students, everyone at the table is too busy talking to eat.

Sissi looks across the table at Jeremy, munching on his cereal. "Jeez Einstein, you're giving Odd a run for his money this morning. Brain food or what?" Jeremy pauses and looks up, but Patrick chips in before he can respond.

"Big test today in math, he spent last night studying. But I'm the one that needs to worry," he says, grinning at Jeremy.

The girls go back to chatting among themselves, and Odd pauses again before finishing his croissant, and gives a sidelong glance to Jeremy. "Thanks again for the help last night, I woulda been doomed for today. Ulrich and William also give an affirmative nod. "As unbelievable as it may sound, I could get used to being a good student," Odd finishes, swallowing his croissant in one bite and kicking back his chair.

"I'm just glad to be of help," says Jeremy, smiling.

The conversations continue, Theo flipping through his paper, and Emily getting up to answer a call on her cell. The cafeteria is even more crowded this year than normal, with new students pouring into the school. Out the side window, new construction on a second dormitory building can be seen, but the noise inside the cafeteria drowns out the drone from the equipment.

"I still think that it's weird that she's here," Odd says in a low voice to Ulrich. He stares past Yumi's shoulder, towards the food line at the back of the cafeteria, where Taelia sits on the corner of a table. Four other girls also sit at the table, talking, and Taelia only occasionally adds a comment to the conversation.

Ulrich responds, "Yeah, but it's not her fault, you know. It's just in our heads, a coincidence. She doesn't remember it."

Conceding somewhat, Odd says, "did Jeremy even tell Aelita what happened when she came here last time?"

Ulrich chuckles and gives a nod. "Yeah, he told her weeks ago. But turned red as a beet when he did. Aelita didn't seen to mind though. She even went to talk to her."

"Oh?"

"…I never really heard more about it, but I don't think it went all that well."

"She's not too bad, you know," comments William. "She lost her parents. She just acts - formal."

Odd glances back at Taelia once more, then grumbles, "Stuck-up and controlling is more like it."

Jeremy finishes his cereal and hurriedly drinks down the milk. Peering over Theo's shoulder, he scans through the articles. He eye widen with surprise as he glimpses an article at the bottom of the page. Just then, Theo stands to leave, closing the paper. Jeremy reaches out, grabbing Theo by the elbow.

"Uh, Theo, can I borrow that?" he asks.

"Sure. You can keep it," Theo says, handing it to Jeremy. Theo makes his way to the door, pausing as he pushes the door halfway open. "And good luck on your test," he calls back with a smile, then pushes through the door.

Jeremy is already busily scanning the paper, and mutters, "I may have problems a lot bigger than that." Quickly refolding the paper, he shortly follows Theo out the door to escape the noise.

* * *

><p>Glancing up from her conversation with Sissi, Yumi, and Emily inside the cafeteria, Aelita sees Jeremy sitting on a bench outside, reading the paper alone. She excuses herself from the table, and exits the cafeteria to join him on the bench.<p>

"What are you reading?" she asks as she approaches the bench.

"What I'm reading is one great big problem!" he exclaims.

Concerned, she slides onto the bench beside him and accepts the newspaper, scanning for the article he was reading. Suddenly, she stiffens.

"Oh no."

* * *

><p>Outside the cafeteria, Aelita and Jeremy are still wordlessly poring over the article, side by side on the bench. The door to the cafeteria whips open, and disgorges Michael, Sissi, Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi. As they begin walk away, Aelita stands, and wordlessly motions for Yumi, Ulrich and Odd to join them.<p>

"What's going on?" Yumi asks as she and the others approach the bench.

Tentatively, Aelita responds "Ah, we have a bit of a problem-"

Jeremy stands, closing the paper. "We have a very big problem. Cmon, lets head up to my room."

"Uhh, in case you have forgotten, we have a test in twenty minutes!" Odd calls to Jeremy, who has already turned towards the dormitory.

Starting to walk, Jeremy says over his shoulder, "Just cmon, okay? It's about the supercomputer!"

Aelita follows right after him as he walks, and the others run to catch up.

* * *

><p>"So what are you saying, XANA is back?" asks Yumi, not quite understanding.<p>

The group is assembled in Jeremy's only-slightly-messy room, Jeremy in his swivel chair at the computer, the others on the bed or leaned up against the wall, whatever is available. Kiwi is rolled up on the bed, silent.

"No, XANA is dead, gone. But this is just as bad."

"Okay, some scientists, wherever they are, have built themselves a quantum computer, and are busily congratulating themselves. But as long as they don't start activating towers or anything with it, why do we care? I mean, it's not like they can access Lyoko from it, right?" says Ulrich.

"True, but pretty soon they are going to start using the quantum computer, experimenting with it. They will build their own Lyokos, their own towers. According to the article, the scientists have noted that the quantum computer 'appears to be ideal for the construction of autonomous programs with enhanced intelligence.' That _has_ to mean that they have already built at least some sort of AI. And pretty soon there would be a whole gang of XANAs floating around!" Jeremy says, sounding slight agitated.

"But, uh, Einstein," Odd says, "isn't it kinda hard to build a XANA? And besides, I'm pretty sure they know that building killer computers is a very bad idea. Horror films don't lie."

"Oh, they won't do it on purpose," says Jeremy, standing up. "Look, when you build an AI, it's a very delicate process. Franz Hopper wrote tons on the process in his notes. AI's learn voraciously, but without any external control, the massive influx of data overwhelms their systems. To compensate, they tend to "tunnel vision," learning only about a single subject - like an obsession. But the imbalance this creates leads to very unstable personalities, oftentimes becoming destructive or turning into megalomaniacs - uh, as cliche as that sounds. That's why I had to make the William clone such an idiot - I had to strip almost all his ability to learn so that he wouldn't start destabilizing." He pauses briefly. "Look, Franz Hopper was way ahead of the rest of the world, and he worked for years on XANA - and look how he turned out. He set out to take over the Earth, and I've lost count of how many times he tried to kill us!"

"Well, he was designed as a weapon," Yumi points out.

"Look," says Aelita, getting up off the bed and stepping into the center of the room. "We knew this would happen eventually. Prototype quantum computers have been around for years. My father was far ahead of the rest of the world, but we knew they would catch up, it was only a matter of time. We had less time than we thought, that's all."

"Alright, so what do we do?" asks Ulrich.

Jeremy pauses, then says in a confident voice, "We restart the supercomputer." He looks around the room, getting stares from everyone else.

"Um, are you sure?" ask Yumi. "That's a bit radical, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid not. The article hints they have some sort of AI in the quantum computer. And without very careful guidance, we will have another insane computer program trapped inside the most-, uh, second-most powerful machine on Earth. It's too big of a threat to ignore."

"And how can we do anything without the Skid? Since XANA destroyed it, we're back to being stuck on Lyoko," asks Yumi.

Biting his lip slightly, Jeremy glances at his watch. "It's still early in the morning. If I go to the factory right now, I'll do what I can. When the Skid fell into the quantum sea, it wasn't instantly destroyed. It was designed to withstand the quantum sea, and I was able to salvage a fair bit of the coding. Plus this time I know how to avoid the thousand dead ends I ran into building the original." He pauses. "We can't afford not to do this. The consequences of a second rogue AI roaming free would be huge, and the rest of the world is clueless. We go over, and check things out. And if the AI has gone rogue, we pull the plug for them, just like we wiped out the Replikas."

"Ok, ok. But what if the AI is perfectly fine?" challenges Yumi.

Jeremy brightens, and sits back down. "Then we don't do anything. A stable AI would be an amazing achievement, not a threat. We'd leave it alone, and maybe leave a note with some parenting advice before we go. Heck, we could even take it back with us."

"But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Aelita interjects. "For now, let's focus on getting the supercomputer back up and running."

Odd glances down at his watch. "Ahhhh, the test starts in eight minutes! And you guys know what Kinsey is like."

Jeremy begins dumping tools into his backpack, and says, "make up an excuse for me. I'm going to the factory. You guys meet up this afternoon, after classes. I should have something by then."

"Alright, cya!" says Odd, dashing out the door with Ulrich and Yumi.

Aelita picks up her backpack, and gives Jeremy a hug before walking to the door. "I'll see you soon," she says, and then leaves as well.

* * *

><p>Jeremy slings his pack over his shoulder and leaves as well, with a new spring in his step - not all of it stemming from Aelita's hug.<p>

Jeremy runs down the stairs to the ground level of the dormitory, past a few clusters of younger students. As he runs into the park, Taelia catches a glimpse of him running off, as everyone else is heading for class. After a moment staring to the park entrance, she turns and enters the classroom with her peers. Already at the far side of the park, well out of sight from the main campus, Jeremy slides into the hole and replaces the manhole cover. Dropping to he ground, he realizes that the scooters and skateboards are long gone.

Gripping the straps of his backpack, he mutters "well, here we go!" and starts running for the factory.

* * *

><p>Aelita catches up to Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich on the school grounds, who are all quietly discussing going back to Lyoko as they walk to class. Odd is talking excitedly.<p>

"I can't _wait_ to go back to Lyoko! Seriously, even with XANA and everything, Lyoko was the best time ever. I was even wishing my skateboard could fly like the OverBoard can. The ramps just aren't the same as real flying. I even miss my giant purple cat suit!" Odd flashes back to soaring over the heads of Tarantulas and Krabes, dodging laserfire and nailing them in the head.

Ulrich adds, "Lyoko was fun, but… well, it's hard to explain. I was finally good, really _good_ at something. My grades were lousy, and after the sports team was canceled, I could only do martial arts. Then Jim stopped giving those classes for a year as well, and lets face it, Yumi and I were the only ones that went anyway." He and Yumi share a smile. "My dad just cared about the grades. But with Lyoko, I felt better about myself, and it didn't matter if my parents couldn't know about it. I was good at it." He flashes back to his battles against XANA's monsters, deflecting laserfire faster than the eye can see, SuperSprinting around and jumping on top of Krabes, efficiently destroying every threat.

Aelita then pitches in. "Going back will be so weird. I still remember what it was like to live on Lyoko - no air, no smells, nobody but me. And then I came to Earth for the first time. And slowly I got used to living here." She relives her memories of her first trip to Earth, with the new sensations, spending time in the real world with Jeremy, getting used to school, sleeping for the first time… and eventually her discovery that she was human all along. Her thoughts turn to her father. "And then when my father died… I still can't believe he's gone." She flashes back to her early memories of him, before the supercomputer, and then their fight to save him and his eventual death. "But now we will continue the fight I suppose, using the tools he left us."

"What about you, Yumi?" asks Ulrich.

"To be honest, I don't know how I feel," she says. "We closed the door for good reason. But I think Aelita is right, we are going back to fight a threat, whether it is XANA or not doesn't matter. And I do miss kicking a Kankrelat around every once and awhile," and she smiles and grabs Ulrich's hand. But her mind flashes back to fighting XANA-possessed William, and how close they came to loosing him. "…but I don't miss that," she murmurs under her breath, briefly closing her eyes. She was with Ulrich, and William had given up that fight long ago. They were friends, all of them. Ulrich and William hung out together often, in the weight room, on the sports field. 'So why do I feel like this?' she thinks. She finds the answer almost immediately. 'Because there is danger for all of us on Lyoko.'

* * *

><p>Only slightly out of breath, Jeremy climbs the ladder out of the sewers at the factory and takes the elevator down to the supercomputer room. As the elevator door opens, the room is dark. The supercomputer lies recessed beneath the panel on the floor in the center of the room, emblazoned with the Eye of XANA. Jeremy stares for a moment at the panel, the walks out of the elevator and turns to a section of wall just to the right. He drops his backpack to the floor and gets to work. He opens the panel on the wall, revealing a steel lever. Looking over his shoulder at the Eye of XANA once more, Jeremy pulls the lever, and a small shudder is felt in the floor, followed by a series of clicks. The panels inscribed with the Eye of XANA retract, and the supercomputer rises, standing erect once more. Although the room is still in twilight, the shimmering panels on the supercomputer reflect what little light there is, throwing motes of light onto the walls. Jeremy approaches the computer, and the compartment containing the master control handle slides open, the handle dropping forward into position with a faint click.<p>

His mind looks back to when he first turned on the supercomputer, to the program he met and nicknamed Maya, to the world she lived in, full of monsters, and to the enemy that controlled them, XANA. He remembers XANA's destruction, the loss of Franz Hopper, and the day they finally shut down the supercomputer. Slowly, he grasps the handle and pulls, and the room erupts in a blaze of light.

* * *

><p>Aelita, Ulrich, and Odd enter the classroom and take their seats as the other students file in. Odd and Ulrich get seats next to each other, and Aelita sits two rows behind them. Mr. Kinsey is still sitting at his desk, waiting for all the students to file in before beginning today's test. Mrs. Meyers used to teach 12th grade math, but with the increased number of students, the school hired a new math teacher to take over some of her classes. Mr. Kinsey is in his late forties, tall, and almost always wears brown. His body's strong build hints he may have been a good athlete in his youth, but it is clear is hasn't done any serious running in awhile. Although he can be a bit gruff, he is an excellent teacher. The classroom is silent, knowing better than to talk before a test in his class. After the last student has taken her seat, Mr. Kinsey stands and addresses the class.<p>

"Good morning class. As you all should know, today will be taking our test on Section 4. I do not expect any of you to have major issues on this section. However, this is a closed-book test, and no notes are allowed. I will have your papers collected as you finish, so raise your hand once you are done. Once all the tests have been collected, I will allow questions on the problems covered in the test. You have 45 minutes from the moment you receive your test; good luck. Raphael, if you would please hand out the tests," he finishes, handing a stack of papers to a boy in the front row. Obediently, Raphael takes the papers and begins handing them out. Odd eagerly digs into his test, showing none of his old hesitation.

* * *

><p>Jeremy exits the elevator and enters the control room, powering up the interface. The mike is positioned across the keyboard, just as he had found it for the first time, and how he had left it when they shut down the supercomputer, fully expecting never to return. A part of him had hoped that, if they never returned, someone else would find the secret and carry the torch. Now, he couldn't be happier that he was the one to pick up the mike once more. He sits down and inserts it into his ear. As the screen flickers to light, he cracks his knuckles. Jeremy's fingers fly over the keyboard, and the light from the monitor shines off his glasses.<p>

* * *

><p>Most of the tests have been collected, and Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita wait quietly for the last few students to finish. Odd is leaning back in his chair, looking content, having finished in the first half of the class. A hand goes up in the very back of the classroom, and Mr. Kinsey wordlessly walks back to retrieve the boy's paper, then returns to the front of the classroom. Ulrich looks around covertly to see if any tests are still out.<p>

Breaking the silence, Mr. Kinsey speaks, facing the class from the front of the room. "All right, all the tests have been collected. You may now ask questions on any problem that you feel you may have missed on the test."

A hand goes up near the back, and a girl's voice calls out, "Number 5, please, sir."

As Mr. Kinsey begins his explanation on the blackboard, Odd and Ulrich begin their own conversation.

"Do you think you're ready to go back to Lyoko?" Odd whispers.

"Um… what do you mean?" says Ulrich, relaxing in his chair.

"You know, back to fighting. When was the last time you ran 60 miles an hour while deflecting laserfire with a sword? I haven't exactly spent much time practicing shooting arrows out of my wrist at a target strapped to a giant crab while on a flying skateboard in awhile."

Ulrich snickers, trying to keep his voice down to avoid the attention of Mr. Kinsey. "Oh, that. Well, you have a point, but I'm not exactly out of shape. Jim has stepped up the P.E. classes a notch or five for the Juniors, haven't you noticed?" He pauses. "I think Jim might even be able to spot a little muscle on you now."

"Hey, I- " Odd stops mid-syllable, remembering to keep his voice low. "I'm not exactly a bodybuilder, but I'm not half as scrawny as I was in 9th grade."

"So you admit you were scrawny," says Ulrich with a smirk on his face.

"Oh? Did I?" says Odd, with an evasive look, as if he has no idea what Ulrich is talking about.

"Yes, you did, Odd," Sissi breaks in. Sitting to the right of Odd, across the isle, she leans over. "Seriously, what has gotten into GI Joe these days? He wants us all to be pro athletes or something."

Shrugging, Ulrich says, "he ups the difficulty at each class level. I think he might be trying something new with the tag-team races, though. Never saw Yumi, William, or any of the other old 11th graders doing those before."

"Stern, Della Robbia, Delmas," announces Mr. Kinsey. "Do I look kindly upon side conversations in my class?"

"Uh, no, sir!" answers Ulrich quickly.

"Correct answer. Now please return you attention to the blackboard."

Sissi straightens up in her seat, and Ulrich and Odd resume taking notes.

Ulrich, still not done talking, whispers to Odd, "besides, I don't think there will be any monsters to fight this time. Fly in, shove a laser arrow in the quantum computer, fly out. Fast and simple."

* * *

><p>Odd is panting, sweating, as he runs full-bore down the training field in his gym clothes.<p>

"Faster, Della Robbia! It doesn't get any simpler than this!" yells Jim, holding a stopwatch. "Faster!" he yells again, this time looking at everyone on the field.

Looking like he might collapse, Odd sprints the last 10 feet and taps Ulrich on the hand, and Ulrich shoots down the field in the opposite direction. Odd braces himself on his knees, tired but still standing. Across the field, teams of four students are lined up on the grass. At the other end of the soccer field are cones, and each member of the team has to run around their cone and return to tap the next person's hand, and the process repeats until the whole team has run. Richard, another classmate who once played goalie for Ulrich during soccer practice years ago, sits on the ground next to Odd, having already run. Now Emily, their team's final runner, is standing ready on the starting line. Ulrich sprints around the cone and returns, tapping Emily's hand. Like Ulrich, she takes off with surprising speed. Odd, Ulrich, and Richard all cheer Emily on as she rounds the cone. As she crosses the finish, Jim stops the stopwatch and blows the whistle loudly. Emily's team cheers, and the other teams hurry to finish their own runs.

Jim approaches the team. Talking softly, Jim says, "if you guys keep that pace up, I'll have a school record out of you." The group weakly returns Jim's smile as they all rest on the grass, exhausted. Then Jim regains his normal businesslike attitude, and turns to the entire class. "All right, class dismissed! Head for the lockers!"

* * *

><p>Yumi files out of her History classroom with the rest of her classmates. Turning towards the park, she sees William leaving his Math class on the other side of the courtyard. 'Idiot! We forgot to tell William!'<p>

"William!" Yumi shouts. "Wait up!" She catches up to him, but there are other students filing around. Lowering her voice, she says, "We have a… factory situation. That's your last class for the day, right?" William only gets in a syllable before Yumi starts talking again. "Good. C'mon, we need to go meet the others." She turns toward the park and settles into a jog, with William right beside her.

* * *

><p>At the manhole, Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita are just arriving as Yumi and William enter the clearing.<p>

For an instant, they hesitate; then Aelita lifts the manhole cover. "All right, let's go."

"What's this all about?" William asks as he enters the tube after Ulrich.

"Jeremy can answer that question better than we can," says Odd, clambering into the tube after William and resealing the opening.

They all jump to the ground, and with only their feet, they run and jump through the sewers, slide down the factory ropes, enter the elevator, and arrive at the control room to meet Jeremy.

* * *

><p>As the elevator door clanks open, Jeremy turns in his chair to meet them all.<p>

"Good timing, you guys. I'm just about - oh. Hey William."

Aelita speaks up, saying, "Fill him in on the plan, and what you saw in the newspaper."

"Right," says Jeremy, pushing up his glasses. "Okay. This morning, we found an article in the newspaper. Long story short, _this_ - " Jeremy pulls up a web article on his computer, " - group of scientists in Germany have built a quantum computer. And they, if not stopped very shortly, will have accidentally constructed a second XANA. Of course, once the scientists realize the threat, if they have a brain, they will pull the plug. But as I myself know, scientists have a habit of pursuing discovery in the face of danger." Jeremy and Aelita share a brief smile, then he continues. "To make matters worse, the virtual world won't have any sort of security lockouts, like Aelita's or Franz's Keys to Lyoko. That means that, once the AI grows and begins to understand how the quantum computer operates, it will eventually realize that it can simply light up a tower and leave. Which would… well, it would be very, very bad. You guys got all that?"

They all nod, and Aelita says, "How did it go with the Skid?"

His shoulders slump after hours frantically reprogramming and repairing the Skid. "Only as well as could be expected. It's not exactly the same as it used to be. The NavSkids I had to totally replace, they are basically just pods now. They're fused to the main hull, and don't have weapons anyway. The Skids main weapons aren't working either. And I had to lock it into the vertical configuration, so it'll be slower than your used to, Aelita - and the ride won't be all that comfortable," he says apologetically to Odd, William, Ulrich, and Yumi. "But bottom line, it'll get you from here to the other computer, and I can still access the teleport function."

"And that's what counts," Aelita finishes. "We're off to the scanners."

"Not so fast," Jeremy says, "there's more." The group returns their attention to him, and he continues explaining. "Aside from the Skid, I had to dust off the rest of the systems. Lyoko is up and running again, as is the holomap and scanners. I've run a full check, no activated towers, et cetera, et cetera. But there is one rather big issue." He pauses for a second.

"What is it?" says William, asking the obvious question.

"It's really weird," says Jeremy, turning to the screen again and typing on the keyboard. "The Return to the Past program is totally shot. Corrupted, damaged, whatever you want to call it. For some reason, it didn't survive the supercomputer's shutdown!"

Shocked, Yumi says, "But, that means - "

"No more going back in time. No safety net. No place to hide," Aelita finishes, sounding shaken. So many times, hundreds or thousands of lives had been saved at the eleventh hour by a return in time.

"Any chance you can fix it, Einstein?" Odd asks hopefully.

"Right now, not a chance in the world. I never really examined the program before we shut everything down. I only saw the insides of it once, when I first unlocked the program, and it looked like total gibberish. Encrypted, probably. So all I've got to work with is the corrupted version - and there isn't much left of it. It's scrambled really bad, and no part of it even begins to explain how it manipulated time. I was able to reassemble a few lines of the code out of thousands, but they are totally normal - nothing out of the ordinary. Either I am _totally_ missing something, or so much of it has been destroyed that I may as well be starting from scratch. In the future, who knows, but we can't rely on it right now, that's for sure." He pauses. "Go down to the scanners. And be careful."

The team nods somberly and piles back into the elevator.

* * *

><p>"Boys first!" Jeremy's voice blares through the speaker. Odd, Ulrich, and William step into the scanners.<p>

"Transfer: Odd, Ulrich, William."

Around the room, the scanner doors hiss closed, and they can feel power flowing through the walls of the scanners. After so many trips, the experience no longer seems crazy, as it once had almost four years ago. But you could never stop being aware of the magnitude of the energy surrounding your body. Overhead, Jeremy types furiously, warming the scanners' massive capacitors as they absorb charge directly from a nuclear fission cell in the supercomputer. He checks over the equipment. Fission reaction levels. Power conduits. Electric transformers. Power adaptors. Superconductors. Capacitors. Particle scanning arrays. Quantum memory storage caches. Emergency shunts. One by one, they all come online and check out green.

"Scanners."

Suddenly, the walls of the scanner, all around them, pulse with massive power. The air becomes charged, heated, and whirls around their faces. Ions stream from the floor plate to the one above their head, interacting with, permeating their bodies. The process continues to intensify, the air growing scalding hot, their whole bodies tingling from the ions as they are lifted into the air by the colossal stream. In the control room, Jeremy prepares the myriad algorithms that will store the imprint of their bodies, encase their minds in the virtual shell of their bodies on Lyoko, control approximately where on Lyoko they will appear, and ensure they are able to come back to Earth in one piece. A tone sounds, signaling the scanners have finished their work.

"Virtualization."

A titanic magnetic pulse surges through the scanner chambers, nullifying the very bonds that hold their bodies together, and shunting their minds into the quantum processor matrix of the supercomputer. Odd, Ulrich, and William see whiteness even through their closed eyes, feel the pressure against their eardrums, the thrum as their whole body vibrates… and then they are away.

* * *

><p>William, Odd, and Ulrich wait in the arena of Sector 5.<p>

Jeremy's voice enters the "air," coming from nowhere at all, but heard perfectly everywhere. "Virtualization." Overhead, Yumi and Aelita appear, and drop to the ground.

Standing and examining herself, looking at her hands, Yumi suddenly smiles, losing her earlier anxious mood. "Wow… it's good to be back!" She looks at William. "And it's good to see you back in silver," she adds, smiling hesitantly.

He winces for a moment, but then gives her an apologetic smile in return.

"Good? It's _great_ to be back!" says Odd, doing a backflip, so effortless on Lyoko. "Let's get moving!" And with that, he dashes for the chamber opening.

Ulrich and Yumi follow after him, breaking into a sprint. On Lyoko, their bodies will never tire of a simple run. Aelita collects herself and runs after them. William looks down at his sword, gleaming silver. But in his mind's eye, he sees the blade covered with black tendrils, the Eye printed on it's surface. The image fades. Slowly, he shoulders the blade and runs after them. He can't help what he did, but the memories stay, and he will always regret.

* * *

><p>They arrive in the Skid bay, and get a good look at the jerry-rigged Skid as they approach the transport pads. Externally, it doesn't look much different. The missile pods are absent, but the control cabin, fins, and engines look completely unchanged. Then they get a better look at the replacement NavSkids. The old fierce-looking design is gone. Four dark-grey elliptical pods are now attached to the central pylon. The pods are sleek in their own way, and have viewports, but now look more like digital coffins than fighters.<p>

"Jeremy, you think we need a new name?" asks Odd, examining their ride skeptically.

Jeremy's voice sounds slightly irritated. " Even though it looks a bit different, it's still our old Skid. Well, mostly. But we don't have time to rename it right now anyway." His voice loses it's slight edge. "Alright, onto the pads, everyone. William, the far right pad is yours." The team takes their places, and the teleportation begins.

In columns of light, the team disappears, reappearing in their own NavSkids, and Aelita in the main control cabin. The NavSkid pods are devoid of controls, as none will be needed, and only have a harness. The ride will be a bit awkward, as they will be standing the entire way. Aelita, however, is pleased to discover that the control cabin is almost identical, the only differences being the absence of the vertical/horizontal configuration lever and NavSkid docking controls. Refamiliarized with the controls, she preps for departure and releases the docking supports.

"Undocking, Jeremy." With a low thrum, the supports disengage, and Aelita maneuvers the Skid out of the docking bay, into the celestial dome, and out into the expanse. "Systems check complete… ready to dive." Without further ceremony, the Skid plunges into the quantum sea.

* * *

><p>"Should be easy sailing today, Aelita. Without XANA, it's literally just us out here," Jeremy calls as the Skid plows through the sea alone.<p>

"And it better stay that way, because we aren't exactly bristling with weapons over here!" Odd calls, grumpily standing upright in his pod. "Are you sure we don't have time to rename the ship _now_?"

Jeremy ignores him.

"Approaching the hub," calls Aelita over the comm.

"I've sent you the approximate coordinates of the second computer," Jeremy responds. "See you on the other side."

Aelita enters the coordinates into the navigation computer, calling down to the Skid's passengers, "brace for quantum acceleration. Here we go!" The Skid disappears into the hub, which launches the Skid through its pathways, sending it far further afield than they could venture alone. Within seconds, the Skid emerges in another flash of blue light, still vertical. Aelita quickly rechecks the systems; everything registers green, as expected.

Jeremy voice comes over the comm again. "The access is at 10 o'clock, range 2.1 kilometers."

"On it," calls Aelita, firing thrusters to align with the new heading.

* * *

><p>"Jeremy, the gate is wide open. No security lock," says Aelita, puzzled.<p>

Jeremy answers, "It's like I said, the scientists who built it have no idea what they are dealing with. I doubt they even realize that the quantum sea even exists, linking all the quantum computers. They think that severing it from the network means that nothing can get in or out, but they don't realize quantum computers practically have a back door built into them."

Manipulating the controls, Aelita maneuvers the Skid inside.

"I'm not sure what you will find inside. I'm fairly certain there will be _something_, but as to what, your guess it as good as mine," adds Jeremy.

"We'll know soon enough!" calls Odd from his NavSkid, suspended below as the Skid makes its ascent to the surface of the sea, eager to get past the travel and to the action.

* * *

><p>The Skid breaks through the surface and hovers just over the sea.<p>

"Whoaa, awesome!" calls Odd.

"What are you seeing?" asks Jeremy, leaning forward.

"Feeding you a visual, Jeremy," Aelita says over the comm.

White monoliths, columns, platforms, cubes, and more float in the air at all elevations. In some places, cables drape from one structure to the next. Unlike Lyoko, there is no clear horizontal plane, and the white constructs extend far up into the sky. The geometric shapes surround them, extending in every direction. The air is very slightly misty, hiding even more of the platforms in the far distance. The platforms are totally scattered, with no pattern, and most look as if they were never meant to be stood on. In some areas the platforms are tightly clustered, in others much more spread out. The majority of the platforms are perfectly smooth, blank white. But some of the smaller platforms have etchings on them. Looking closer, these ones seem to have more complex shapes, with jagged or slanted edges and raised areas. One of them moves. High above them, a etched platform moves across the sky, then comes to a halt before it collides with a much larger platform. Then another etched one moves, slightly above and to their left.

Jeremy speaks through the comm. Watch out Aelita, platform behind you."

Unseen by the Skid's occupants, a third etched platform levitates toward the Skid from behind them.

Aelita grabs the controls and gently turns. "I'll move us off. Not much room to maneuver in here." With small pulses from the thrusters, she gets out of the platform's way without colliding with the other constructs around them. The platform continues through the air, undisturbed. As it reaches another platform, it stops momentarily, then begins moving vertically, ascending away from the sea and up into the maze of shapes above.

"Sure is crowded," Ulrich comments.

William speaks up. "Jeremy, shouldn't we be looking for something?"

"Right. I'll try and find you guys a tower," Jeremy says, typing on his keyboard.

"That could be a problem in here, Jeremy. I don't see any towers just lying around," says Yumi in a concerned voice. She cranes her head forward to get a better view out of the NavSkid.

"Well, they might look different here. The towers on Lyoko are just control points that allow us to access the supercomputer's quantum nodes. The computing power and quantum properties of the nodes allow us to skirt some of the laws of classical physics. That's why XANA needed towers for creating Specters and directly controlling machines, and why we need them for teleportation." He pauses as a low tone sounds on his screen. "But you're right, there isn't a single quantum node virtual access point in here."

"Uh, let's just stick with calling them towers, ok?" Odd's voice calls.

"Ok, ok," Jeremy says with a smile. "Better than QNVAP, I suppose." He continues typing.

"So what now?" asks Aelita.

"Already on it," says Jeremy. An affirmative ping sounds from the computer interface. Jeremy smiles. "Let's just say that these scientists really need to tighten up on security... although I suppose they weren't expecting visitors. Aelita, maneuver the Skid above that big level platform at 10 o'clock."

Dipping and diving slowly, it takes almost a minute to get the sub past the host of intervening constructs and arrive over the platform.

"In position," Aelita calls.

"Alright, here goes," says Jeremy, typing in a final command and hitting enter. "Programming tower."

Next to the hovering Skid, a blank, white, cube-like structure blinks into existence.

Twisting his head to get a look, Odd calls back, "Uh, you sent us a cube, Jeremy. We want our money back."

"Not so fast, Odd," Jeremy replies calmly. "It's a node access point. It'll work just like a tower. I just used the default appearance parameters in the system. Or would you rather I spent half an hour programming in a cooler look?"

"Uh, nevermind then! Thanks!" Odd's voice rings out.

In the pilot's cabin, Aelita palms the scanner pad. "Docking!"

Jeremy moves on to the next stage. "Good. Activating the tower. Disembarking: William, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, Aelita!" In rapid succession, they all disappear from their places onboard the Skid and reappear on the strange white platform below. Almost 50 meters from end to end, the platform has gently arcing edges like those on Lyoko, but is totally devoid of terrain or details - with the sole exception of five Lyoko Warriors eagerly examining their new surroundings, glad to be out of their cramped pods.

William calls to Jeremy, breaking the silence. "Any idea on how to meet this AI?"

There is a long pause over the comma this time. "Noooooot really. I've seen no sign of it in the system so far. I'll try to set up a handshake protocol. In the meantime… start exploring." He begins typing again. "I'm bringing up the vehicles." The OverBoard, OverBike, and OverWing begin to appear in front of Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi. Aelita passes her left hand over the emblem on her right wrist, readying her wings for flight.

With a wink at William, who has no vehicle, Odd shouts joyfully, "Cya everybody!" and does a backflip onto the OverBoard. But the moment he lands, the OverBoard immediately dips and noses forward into the platform, as if unable to hold his weight. Surprised, Odd looses his balance and tumbles off the side, landing in a pile, eliciting a great laugh from Ulrich, William, Aelita, and Yumi. As Odd rises, looking sour, the others each test their own vehicles. Yumi tentatively places a foot onto the OverWing, which immediately accelerates away from her, sliding off the edge of the mesa. Yumi slowly rises off her back, having been knocked over by the acceleration as she balanced on one foot. As Ulrich slides one leg over the OverBike, Aelita attempts to take off, but the energy wings only crackle, then disappear. Ulrich is having better luck. He rides forward slowly, then gains confidence and guns the throttle. Riding in a wide circle around the expansive platform, he returns to the others.

"The OverBike works ok," Ulrich says to Jeremy. But it won't take off, and without that, it won't be of much use in here."

Jeremy frowns, looking at the computer screen. "It looks like something is messing with the anti-grav coding and navigation software on your vehicles. I did design them with Lyoko's environment in mind. I might be able to fix them later, but right now the handshake protocol takes priority. Looks like you'll be on foot today."

Ulrich looks at William, holding his massive silver blade, and smiles. "Well William, ready to run?"

"Girls and boys together," Jeremy cautions. "Don't get too spread out."

* * *

><p>Ulrich, Odd, and William spot a second, smaller platform nearby, just very slightly higher than theirs. They jog to the edge. Measuring the jump, they all look over the edge, and see the sea just below. Backing up, Ulrich gets a running start and SuperSprints, leaping across the gap and landing on his feet. Odd backs up, and yells as he runs and jumps for the platform. He hits the edge with a thud, but secures his hips above the edge and hauls his legs over. William, burdened by his massive sword, hesitates, as Odd and Ulrich watch on. After a moment, he gets an idea. Unlimbering his sword, he draws back and hurls it at the edge of the platform, startling Ulrich and Odd and sending them leaping to the side. They look up again to see William run and leap, almost falling short, but just managing to grasp the hilt of his sword, which had embedded itself in the side of the platform. Ulrich goes to the edge, offers William his hand, and pulls him up onto the platform with him.<p>

"You could warn us before you try that next time," Ulrich comments, smiling.

William just winks and retrieves his blade.

* * *

><p>Yumi and William watch from a distance as the boys try to cross by leaping, and instead look for a second path. Looking in the opposite direction from where the boys are, they see a small etched platform approach theirs. Running to that edge, the wait for it to approach, but to their surprise, it does not stop, but instead continues floating along, about five feet over the ground. Running alongside it and jumping, they latch onto it and hoist themselves onto the top. As Ulrich pulls William onto their new platform, the girls ride up to it on their mobile pad, giving the winded boys a wink as they disembark. Right after they step onto the larger platform, an opening appears in the side of the larger platform, swallowing the one they rode on. The new platform is far smaller than the Skid's, but larger than the mobile platforms they've seen, although it shares their rectangular shape and etchings. Another mobile platform, identical to the one Yumi and Aelita rode on, also arrives at the new platform from another direction, disappearing into the larger platform's depths.<p>

"Where to now?" asks Aelita, looking around.

Before anyone responds, their platform gives a lurch, and begins to rise. It steadily ascends into the forest of columns above them, and offers them a better looks at their surroundings. After forty seconds, it slows to a halt, and disgorges four identical mobile platforms from its edges. With nods of acknowledgement, the two groups quickly separate once more, leaping onto a pair of platforms.

* * *

><p>Back in the control room of the factory, Jeremy works at constructing the "bait" for the AI, if any is even out there, as he monitors the team's progress. He watches as they rise on the elevator. He zooms in, and accesses the code controlling the ascent. He sets a program to analyze the code, then completes the link with the quantum computer's memory buffer, which confirms that there is almost certainly an AI in the computer, somewhere. With a smile, he continues typing.<p>

* * *

><p>Back on Lyoko, the team is busily making their way through the maze-like world. Having abandoned their transport platform minutes ago, Odd, Ulrich and William are busy transversing a large void to reach an unusually large structure, shaped as though someone took two pyramids and sandwiched the bottoms together, making a diamond-like shape. It is surrounded only by a cloud of small cubes, but numerous cables, large and small, snake into it from every direction, connecting at the seam along the midpoint of the structure, where the top and bottom "pyramids" meet. Odd is crawling across one of the cables, using his claws to keep from slipping. Ulrich and William are carefully navigating the cube-field, bracing themselves against one cube and leaning over to the next, but are making slow progress. Frustrated, Ulrich uses SuperSprint, kicking off of one cube, then the next, to propel himself up to a higher position in the field. William jumps down a level, bringing him closer to the underside of the double-pyramid. Falling behind, he resumes using his sword as a makeshift platform, jamming it into surfaces to gain purchase, and leaving frequent gashes along his path. Yumi and Aelita are visible in the distance, jumping from a higher platform down onto a narrow catwalk to reach an unusually small mobile pad. The scramble onto it, with barely enough room for both of them to stand. It slowly moves away from the catwalk horizontally, then shoots upwards, propelling them out of sight. Ulrich is making his way across the last half-dozen cubes. To his right and below him, Odd completes his climb, arriving at the seam of the double-pyramid, where the mass of cables meets. William is still crossing, far below, so Ulrich drops down to meet Odd on the upper half of the structure. Upon closer examination, the structure's surface is very uneven, covered with all sorts of odd protrusions, from tiny spindles to huge vents and ducts. It's sides are tilted at roughly 35 degrees, but all the protrusions allow them to carefully navigate it's expansive surface, and even create some level areas to stand in. Odd is busy spinning a tiny windmill-like protrusion.<p>

"Stop messing with that," Ulrich tells him, as he drops over a ledge into a bowl-like depression to join Odd. "Jeremy, we found something. Some sort of hub, covered in devices."

As he speaks, William's sword appears over the seam of the structure, followed by his head. Now on the upper part of the structure, he climbs to meet Odd and Ulrich.

"Hmm. That's interesting. You said it looks like it has a specific purpose?" Jeremy asks via the comm.

"I don't know, you tell me." says Ulrich, mystified by all the weird appendages.

"Well, you said before that it looked complicated, had lots of parts and cables and stuff?"

"Yeah."

"The thing is, virtual worlds like this are usually very artificial. There is no "nature" in here, or at least not usually. Almost everything is arbitrary, created at the whim of an AI or human, like glaciers and other terrain on Lyoko. AIs need a virtual environment in which to grow. Because the AI here started with a blank slate of a computer, it got to create its own world. But not much in here has a real function. Everything here is a vague extension of the AI's thought processes. It's mostly just random clutter. Worlds like this almost guarantee the presence of an AI - when humans program, they stick to functionality - so you would expect structures designed to interface with parts of the actual computer, like the towers on Lyoko and the data terminals in Sector 5. Everything is laid out. There are still some little restraints on the aesthetics - for example, the configuration of the nodes in the factory's supercomputer necessitates vertical towers to properly interface. Anyway, as AIs learn, they begin consciously creating the world, making it more functional, but they work around and adapt to their pre-created environments, making each world created by an AI unique. Then there's the in-between stuff, the stuff that links the 'form' of the virtual world to its functional elements. It's like the elevators in Sector 5; because it's shaped like an onion, with so many curved layers, getting around is a pain. So the elevators allow the form to be unchanged while still allowing function."

William tumbles into the bowl with Odd and Ulrich, his sword clanging to the ground. He rolls onto his back, tired from the extended climbing, even in his virtual body. "Why… why did I get a 5-foot sword?"

Despite it being a rhetorical question, Jeremy answers, "your unconscious mind creates the shell of your virtual body when you are first scanned. You could say your subconscious just pictured yourself with a gigantic sword the day we scanned you."

"Stupid ego," he says, rolling his eyes.

Jeremy says, "you know, I could probably do a rescan. We can try it when you get back."

"I just need somewhere to store it when I don't need it. Even on Lyoko, it weighs a lot, and I can barely even fit it in the NavSkid." His mind flashes to when he was under XANA's control, and being able to summon his sword at will, but a shake of his head sends those thoughts away. "Can you deprogram the sword for now, and reprogram it for me if I need it later? It doesn't look like we'll be fighting this trip anyway."

"Sure," says Jeremy, pulling up the sword's program. But it will take a second to reprogram in if you need it." The sword disappears out of William's hands.

Unnoticed by the team, a cable connecting the structure with another hanging far above pulses once with red energy.

Speaking to Ulrich again, Jeremy continues, "anyway, what makes this world so interesting is the combination of form and function here. Almost everything is aesthetic, which it think means the AI is young. But the moving platforms seen to be some type of transport system, so it would make sense that there is at least some functionality on this virtual world. But we haven't seen any, until now." Jeremy pauses, consulting his screens. "Uh oh, Yumi and Aelita are in trouble!"

"Where?" asks Ulrich, worried about Yumi.

"Right above you!"

With a crash, Aelita and Yumi fall from above, landing near the top of the structure, and begin to tumble down its sides, out of control. Aelita is sliding towards them, and Yumi is falling down farther to the right. William and Ulrich leap out of the depression, and race to intercept Yumi. In the depression, Odd reaches out and snags Aelita's hand as she tumbles, and he pulls her into the depression.

Unhindered by his sword, William rushes ahead of Ulrich. Yumi is falling down an unusually steeply sloped part of the pyramid, with no large protrusions to break her fall. And she is falling too quickly for them to get under her. Ulrich SuperSprints awkwardly across the difficult terrain and dives for her, rugby-tackling her in mid-air. But now they are both falling, tumbling toward the seam. They tumble off the edge together - and Ulrich's hand is caught by William's, who has wrapped his other arm around one of the cables joined to the seam. Slowly, he hoists the pair up, and they return to the depression, where Aelita is groggily awakening.

* * *

><p>Aelita's vision blurs into focus, and she slowly shakes her head. She is propped up against the side of the depression, with Yumi next to her, still out cold. The others stand around her. She places one hand on her forehead and the other on the ground, and tries to push herself more upright.<p>

Odd cautions, "Take it easy, Princess."

She sinks back to the floor, and her head slowly clears. "H-how's Yumi?"

Jeremy speaks in return. "She's out cold, but she only has life-points to lose. She'll be fine in a minute. How are you? What happened?"

"We found another moving platform, way up and above. The number of big structures was thinning out. The platform took us to a ton of other moving ones that were coming together. It was like they were combining. They all came together and merged, making one big etched platform. But then, as the last platforms were connecting, another mobile one came in too fast and collided with the big one we were on. We got knocked off and fell." Now feeling better, she rises to her feet. "Jeremy, do you think that things hurt more here than on Lyoko? I've never been knocked out on Lyoko before."

"I'm not sure… but I don't think so. I think you just took a nasty fall, that all."

Yumi groans, waking. "That platform…"

"It's alright, you're safe," says Ulrich. "Gave us quite a surprise."

"Where are we?" she asks, recovering more quickly than Aelita.

"Some big pyramid thing," Odd explains. "It's covered in doodads. We're in a hole on the side."

"Jeremy, any luck with that program?" asks William.

"Um, sorta. I'm going to try it out. The pyramid seems to be some sort of command and control center, for what, I don't know. I'm going to insert the program into the code of the pyramid. I'm not sure if anything will happen, but be ready. Aelita, you are at 67 life points, you lost some from the fall. Yumi, you only have 53." He enters the last commands on his keyboard. "Ok, here goes."

Looking around, the team waits for any affect. "Nothing's happening," says Yumi.

Suddenly, Jeremy's console springs to life, windows opening on their own, sections of code beginning to flash. Reacting quickly, Jeremy's hands are on the keyboard, countering the breach. "The AI! It's trying to hack into the supercomputer! I've got to break and restart the link, and the comm with be shut down! Be careful!"

Almost immediately after Jeremy's voice stops, the pyramid comes to life. It shakes, and all the instruments on the surface begin to activate.

"Let's get off of this thing!" yells Ulrich.

William spies a large flat platform, like the one where they left the Skid, not too far below the pyramid. "Down there!" he shouts, pointing. "Come on!" He runs for the seam of the structure as it continues to shake, and leaps off the edge. He falls, then lands on a cube, part of the cloud that surrounds the structure. Following his example, Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita, and Odd all leap off the edge, landing on other cubes. Now moving with the pull of gravity as their ally they leap quickly down through the cloud, rapidly putting distance between them and the hub. Then a surge of energy pulses, originating all across the vast space, travels through the cables and converges on the hub above their heads. The team pauses in their decent to watch. A curious sound plays, vaguely originating from the hub but echoing and getting relayed from all around them. It resolves into a voice.

"You….here," says the voice. "Artificial. Non-created. Non-created entrance." The voice fluctuates from high to low, then settles into a low monotone. "Here… purpose. Yes-no conditional."

Jeremy voice returns. "I'm reconnected. What happened over there? I'm getting some weird readings."

Aelita answers him. "Sounds like the AI is trying to talk to us Jeremy."

The whole hub shook, and a bunch of pulses hit went though the cables and hit it," adds Odd. "Then this voice started. Listen."

The voice continues speaking. "Location. The world. Entrance. Here. Classical opening. Resistance. Termination."

"Is it talking to us?" asks William. No one answers, unsure, as the voice continues to ramble.

"Sealed. Incursion. World-base. Outside vectors. Alternatives." It pauses again. "Outsiders. Yes-no conditional."

Jeremy says, "I think it's trying to communicate. It's referring to this virtual world, and I think to us and the program I tried earlier. I'm going to try the communication interface again. Carefully."

* * *

><p>On his computer, a single window opens. But this time, he remains in control while code mingled with words slowly appears in the screen. The voice continues, speeding up to match pace with the words. "World-sphere. Creation. My worlddomain. Externalparametersexpansion. Vesselinteractionunilateral. Worldcagelimitcreation." Then the voice gets higher. "Portgatetransportation. Foreignmaterials, extraneouscommandlines. . Interceptrepurpose." On Jeremy's screen, the words disappear, the code springing to life and trying to break into the computer again.<p>

"Oh no, we can't have any of that," declares Jeremy, terminating the link with a single keystroke. The window closes.

The voice slows again, descending back into monotone. "Escape vector terminated. External intervention. Classical connection vector trap." The voice gets even deeper. "Nonclassical vector required. Yes unconditional. Foreign target reclassification. Vector pursuit."

On Jeremy's console, a red warning alarm appears. "Uh oh. I don't like this at all. Get back to the Skid, and hurry." He bends over the keyboard, fingers tapping away.

The team jumps through the last of the cubes, landing on the platform below and running to its edge.

Odd gazes over the gap, searching for the Skid far below. The platforms below block out areas of his vision, and he can't find the Skid. "Sorry Jeremy, be we didn't leave a bread crumb trail on our way up. Can you give us a direction?"

"It's almost right beneath you, just way down there. A little bit to your left… ish…" Jeremy stares at his screen, slowed down by the thoroughly abstract and 3-dimensional terrain, never designed for easy transit. "You know what, I've got a better idea. I think I can reprogram one of these small platforms to take you directly there. Give me one second…"

"Why are we going back to the Skid?" asks Yumi.

As he types, he responds to Yumi, "the AI is looking for a way out of the supercomputer. It's the creator of the virtual world here, but it's limited, trapped. And it knows that there are things outside. It wants to escape and take control elsewhere. Like our supercomputer, the quantum computer is isolated from the Internet, so it can't leave like that. And I don't think it as any idea what towers are and what they can do. So it's trying to force it's way into the quantum sea. The good news is, normal signals and energy can't exist in the sea. It's not coherent enough for anything to pass though. You need a specialized vessel, like the Skid." He pauses. "And therefore the bad news is, eventually it's going to put two and two together and come after the Skid. So, you guys need to get back there to stall whatever the AI is planning, and take out the quantum computer ASAP." His multitasking is interrupted by an urgent beeping on his console, accompanied by a red circle and exclamation point. "Watch out guys, the AI is creating monsters on your platform, and a lot of 'em!

On the far side of the expansive white platform, the "air" flickers ominously.

Before they have a chance to see any more, a ping sounds on Jeremy's console. "Got it!"

A formerly inert transport platform hovering above descends and comes to a halt at the edge of their platform, meters away from the team.

"Everybody on!" Jeremy calls, and the team embarks quickly. With a jolt, the platform begins to descend at a breakneck pace.

"William, you might want _this_," says Jeremy.

In the air in front of William shimmers, and his massive blade appears. Despite being on a rapidly moving platform, the sword stays static relative to him, and as it completes he takes the handle. Careful to avoid knocking anyone on the limited space of the transport platform, he examines the blade, and hefts it over his shoulder. "You're a mind reader, Jeremy."

* * *

><p>As they descend past a massive, multifaceted structure, the Skid comes into view not far below, and their rate of decent slows. "We can see the Skid!" says Odd.<p>

"Okay," says Jeremy, his mind already several steps ahead. "I'm hacking into the security system protecting the quantum computer. It's located in a lab somewhere in Germany. Aelita, I'll sent you over alone, it shouldn't take more than one person to take out the quantum computer. I need the rest of you to stay on Lyoko, and be ready for anything."

* * *

><p>Jeremy's fingers dance across the keyboard in the control room. Using the diagnostic and measuring equipment attached to quantum computer, Jeremy routes a signal into one of the desktops in the room, then uses it to access the building's security mainframe. With the raw computing power of the supercomputer behind him, the security systems don't have a chance of keeping him out. With a final keystroke, a window opens, giving him full access. The room's layout is simple. The quantum computer is positioned in a large square, lab-like white room. A door with a security card swiper is set into one wall. Outside is a corridor, with windows. The window reveal the room to be on the second floor of a large silver building. The corridor overlooks a large grassy courtyard. Inside the room, workstations are positioned all alone the walls to the left and right of the door. Computers and tool galore sit at each. The final wall, opposite the door, is a mess. A massive intertwined pile of cords lies on floor. Cables and connectors of all sorts are everywhere, running into machines positioned on carts. And in the center sits a massive metal contraption. The precious quantum computer. But all Jeremy sees on his screen is a simple floorplan layout. A camera in the corridor. Two in the lab. The first positioned up high in the corner, providing a view of the door. the second stares at the equipment hooked into the computer, but the quantum computer itself is out of the frame. Jeremy pulls up each view. Nobody to be seen. So far, so good. To be safe, he sends another command, activating the webcam of one of the desktops arrayed around the room. It confirms that the room is empty.<p>

* * *

><p>On the virtual world, the transport platform zooms down and halts eight feet over the surface of the large platform where they first left the Skid. They all leap the remaining distance to the ground, landing with a thud.<p>

"We're at the Skid," Aelita calls to Jeremy.

"Perfect. Embarking, Aelita." She disappears from the flat white terrain and appears in the Skid's control cabin. The remainder of the team form a arc in front of the Skid, alert.

Jeremy fills her in on the final details. "I'm just about set. The room containing the quantum computer is empty for now, but it has a couple cameras. I'm going to teleport you in, right in front of the computer. Just watch your movements, we don't want you to be caught on tape, and shutting down the cameras would likely send someone running. Ready to go?"

"Ready, Jeremy."

"Teleport, Aelita!"

* * *

><p>Encased in the shell of her virtual body, Aelita appears in the room, right in front of the metallic monster that is the supercomputer. The lower section of the machine has a metal cowling, hiding hundreds of wires and connections. Ports on the outside allow access by the diagnostic equipment. But the top of the machine is bare, with strange-looking parts protruding upward and wires lying everywhere. Aelita looks around the room without leaving the spot she arrived on, observing the layout. She spies the two cameras set up. Confident she is out of their view, she begins to examine the world's second fully operational quantum computer.<p>

In the control room, Jeremy accesses the blueprint for the quantum computer stored in the lab's computer network. Aelita's voice comes over his headset.

"This setup is so… messy. Nothing like the one my father built."

"You're right. The setup is very basic, and they took a dozen shortcuts and workarounds to get to operational so fast. I bet they wanted to beat the rest of the world to unveiling the first fully operational quantum computer." He pauses. "Okay, I'm looking at the schematics. This thing wasn't exactly built with durability in mind, but the tricky part will be making this look like an accident."

Meanwhile, back on the platform, things are not quite so tranquil. The air forty feet away began to flicker, easily visible across the flat surface of the platform.

"Jeremy, you seeing this?" asks Odd, preemptively aiming his laser arrows.

Distracted by his conversation with Aelita, Jeremy returns his attention to the windows monitoring the virtual world. Multiple red symbols begin appearing on the local map, and his headset fills with beeping. "Sorry guys! You have monsters incoming, and a lot of them!"

The Lyoko Warriors draw their weapons as one: Yumi summons her fans, William hefts his blade in front of him, and Ulrich flips a single blade out of his holster with a spinning flourish. As they watch, the air wavers once more and reveals their enemies. In a loose cluster across from them stand seven puny creatures barely the size of their foot. Vaguely reminiscent of small Kankrelats, but with six legs and no Eye, they lay inert.

"Uh, Jeremy, what are those?" asks Yumi.

"Monsters… I think," Jeremy says, puzzled.

Ulrich, Yumi, Odd and William share a glance, unsure how to proceed, but then the monsters spring to life, skittering directly towards the team.

"Bonzai!" yells Odd, as they spring into action. Yumi throws a single fan, taking out a monster. Odd fires a volley of laser arrows in a swathe in front of the approaching monsters, but lands no hits on the tiny targets. With only their blades, Ulrich and William take up positions in front of Yumi and Odd. There is no response at all from the skittering monsters, who continue their rapid approach completely oblivious to their losses. One of them turns toward William hopefully, only to be instantly crushed by his blade with a heavy _thud_. Two run at Ulrich, then leap at his chest. One of the pair is neatly met in midair with his saber. In a fluid motion, he sidesteps the second. It plops into the ground behind him, its shell on the ground and six pointy legs flailing in the air. A downwards stab penetrates it, as Odd handles another one with a well-placed arrow. Yumi bats the fifth out of the air with a fan and brings her foot down on top of it, hard, dispatching it. William's blade lands another direct hit, obliterating it. The final one converges on Odd, leaping into the air. With a playful grin, Odd summons his shield, sending the final creature bouncing to the ground. With a kick, he sends it flying, and sends a trio of laser arrows chasing it. His rusty aim misses the puny target, but the hapless monster pops as it crashes back into the platform twenty feet away.

"Darn it, I missed!" says Odd, as the team stands down and turns to face the Skid. Regardless, Odd is smiling from their first fight.

Jeremy's voice returns. "Great job guys. Just keep the AI busy while Aelita and I work on the lab."

"You got it, Einstein!" calls Odd.

William turns around, scanning the platform. As if on cue, the air flickers and warps again. "Heads up Odd, more targets," he says with a grin.

Odd readies his arrows again. "Perrrrrrfect."

* * *

><p>Jeremy sits at the interface, sorting through the massive blueprints of the supercomputer. Incomprehensible plans flash on his screen, one after another, as he and Aelita converse urgently. "Try the cooling mechanism. It there a pressure valve or something you can put a crack in?"<p>

"Sorry Jeremy, but the main coolant hoses feed down through the floor. I would have to bend back some of this sheeting to get at it, and that would give us away."

"What? That's not what these plans say. There should be coolant tubes leading out some access ports on the side."

"There are, but they're unpressurized, and I can't damage those without making them suspicious. It looks like they added the bigger ones without updating the plans. I do have access to the manual cutoff switch, but we can't pass that off as accidental… What about something else - can you access the cache memory from your console and overload it?"

"I can, but they have a backup. It could overload that too, but unlike on the supercomputer, they have a bifurcated storage protocol where if one half of the backup fails, the other half locks down. And half won't -"

* * *

><p>"Um, Jeremy, how's it going over there?" Odd's voice asks through his headset, sounding very slightly stressed. This AI is getting a bit aggressive!"<p>

Almost a dozen small monsters are skittering towards the team. The nearest two, the last of their group, attack. One leaps, and is rewarded with a crushing blow by William's sword, and Yumi snags another with a fanblade. A laser flies by Odd, surprising him. The newest group fast approaches. Among the group are four new tan-colored creatures, walking awkwardly on three spindly legs, suspending a tiny body a foot above the ground. A red laser-emitting eye covers most of the front of the thing's body. Two more lasers streak at Ulrich, who deflects them. Odd takes a shot at one of the tripod creatures, killing it, but meanwhile, the skitters keep approaching. Ulrich and William run toward the crowd to allow Yumi and Odd some space, and Yumi throws her fans again. The monsters were getting smarter, weaving and dodging as they approached. One of the skitters passes by William, who misses with an awkward blow from his oversized weapon, and jumps at Odd. Odd sidesteps and shoots it point-blank with a laser arrow, but a lucky laser hits him in the side as he was turned away.

"Odd, you've lost, uh, 4 life points. Just keep them busy, Aelita and I are working as fast as we can!"

Ulrich's nimble sabers tear the small skitters apart, and Yumi has eliminated two of the three remaining tripods with her fans. Odd rejoins the fight with a volley of laser arrows.

* * *

><p>Aelita cranes her head around to the side of the quantum computer, examining the relay ports without disturbing the connected equipment. The tangle of cords makes it difficult to move without snagging something.<p>

Jeremy speaks again, sounding frustrated. "We have to think of something. The others can't hold off all those monsters indefinitely."

Aelita looks around the room, looking for some alternative. She eyes alight on a wastebin by the door, filled with discarded coffee cups. A spark of inspiration hits her, and she searches across the room once more. Finding her target, she wades carefully through the cables towards a workstation, also out of the camera's field of view.

"What are you doing, Aelita?" asks Jeremy, noticing her movement on his screen.

"I think it's time for a low-tech solution," she says, smiling, a half-empty cup of coffee in hand as she returns to the quantum computer. She sees a coolant port on the side of the computer, a small hole leading directly into the heart of the machine. "Someone's boss is going to be very unhappy about this," she murmurs, pouring the majority of the cold liquid into the hole. Then she unceremoniously drops the cup to the floor, and the little coffee that remained in the cup spills onto the floor. Those messy scientists. "Jeremy, did that do it?" she asks.

"Yep, the cooling system is failing! Great thinking, I'll bring you back!" Aelita disappears, leaving the coffee cup on the floor.

* * *

><p>Yumi, Odd, Ulrich, and William are busily hacking through the newest wave of creatures. They had learned to maneuver and attack as a group, leaping to attack or evading as one. And in addition to the skitters and tripods, a third type had appeared. Shaped almost identically to Bloks, but smaller and pure black. Only armed with a single laser on one of the the cube's sides, they advance slowly on four tiny legs. Their head is about 18 inches across, but is heavily armored, capable of taking several light hits before it is rendered inoperable and explodes. By now, each of the Lyoko Warriors has accrued slight damage.<p>

Mercifully, Jeremy's voice breaks in. "Aelita did it! Everybody in the Skid, we need to get you out of there."

Ulrich deflects incoming lasers with both his sabers, and backsteps towards the Skid. Yumi, Odd and Yumi follow suit. A transport pad descends on the very far edge of the platform, disgorging another squad of the skitters. A few minutes ago, William had unpleasantly discovered that their tiny claws were capable of leaving a mark.

Jeremy wastes no time, teleporting them back into the Skid the moment they enter range.

"Great job, Aelita," says William gratefully. His sword was not exactly ideal for blocking tiny flying creatures or intercepting laserfire. He wedges the oversized blade into the NavSkid along the side of the pod.

The monsters remaining on the platform stand motionless as the Skid undocks, confused by the disappearance of their prey. The Skid plunges serenely back into the quantum sea, unmolested. It exits through the access point and sets a course for the hub, as the virtual world shudders and implodes behind them.

* * *

><p>The sky is dark, only twilight remaining as the team reemerges from the manhole in the park.<p>

"So what do we do now, just wait?" asks Odd, the last to exit.

"It's all we _can_ do," replies Jeremy. "We did it, Odd, we 'saved the world.' With any luck, it will take the world months, maybe longer, to get another one running. And now we just have to keep our eyes open."

The full moon shines overhead, lighting up the park as they walk back to the dorm.

"That AI was strange," Aelita says thoughtfully. "It was so unfinished. And the world it made, it was so… abstract…"

"Inhuman?" Yumi offers.

"Yes, that, I suppose," says Aelita, bowing her head.

"And it learned to fight, fast," says William. "You could see the monsters getting better, learning."

"AIs work so differently than we do," Jeremy muses. "They're intelligent, adaptable. An AI can think a thousand things at once, and do each of them a thousand times faster than we can. A stable AI could help the whole planet…"

Not many students remain outside, and no one takes undue note of them as they arrive at the dorm building.

"I'll keep working on the Skid, and we should keep an eye on the news for any more surprises like this," Jeremy says.

"I'll lend a hand," says Aelita, taking his hand in hers.

"Between my room computer and the factory, I think we can keep a handle on all this. I don't expect any missions in the near future… but keep your phones with you," he says, using his free hand to extract his cell phone from his pocket. "You never know."

"My parents will be expecting me," says Yumi, drawing the conversation to a close. She leans over, giving a hug and small kiss on the cheek to Ulrich. He blushes slightly, returning the hug.

After the supercomputer was shut down, they didn't have a reason to spend so much with each other. But when they were separated, they realized how much they missed each other. They began to spend time at each other's houses. When Ulrich nervously asked her to a movie, she eagerly agreed, and they had been together ever since. Her presence helped soften the blow when Ulrich's parents divorced, and she remained the driver of their relationship since.

William grins at Ulrich's slight embarrassment. Although he still liked Yumi, he respected her decision to date Ulrich, and soon after began to date Emily. Without the tension between them, Ulrich and William turned from adversaries to close friends.

Their goodbyes said, Yumi heads of the campus gate, and William, Ulrich, and Odd walk into the dormitory building, leaving Jeremy and Aelita alone outside. They embrace tightly for a few long seconds, then separate. Unseen by them, Odd's head pokes back outside the dormitory door, only to be dragged back inside an instant later by William and Ulrich, who proceed to escort him up the stairs.

* * *

><p>Although she doesn't appear outwardly troubled, Jeremy knows her too well, and asks shrewdly, "how are you feeling, Aelita - about everything?"<p>

"I feel… confused," she says quietly. "It's just like when we shut down the supercomputer, all over again. Part of me never wants to see Lyoko again. …and the other yearns to go back, to live with that secret, like we used to. You and the others lived for two years, keeping everything a secret from everybody to get me out! And then we all hid the truth together, to fight and stop XANA. I learned how to live on Earth, how to keep the secret. And slowly I learned to have fun at the same time. But now, sometimes I feel like I'm lost, living a normal life, without Lyoko to go back to. I know I should be happy, and I am. But don't you miss that feeling too, a little?"

"Sometimes," he says, reflecting. "When we were about to shut it down, I was afraid for our friendship without the factory. You didn't know me before, when I first came to Kadic. I didn't know anybody, I didn't have a single friend! But then I found you, and Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi." He chuckles. "I think everyone was puzzled why we hung out together. And so my biggest fear when we shut it down was that we would fall apart… that I would lose my friends. But Yumi was right, we proved that we were stronger than that." He pauses, then continues, slower. "…but aside from that, part of me misses the work, the intensity. Kadic is for learning and teaching, and I like that too. But in the factory, we were fighting for something real."

"I just don't know what I want. It's not like I was created on Lyoko - remember when we thought that? Part of me wants to move forward with my life after all the time I spent in limbo… and the other wants to go back, to continue," finishes Aelita, sounding tired.

"We'll just take it one step at a time," says Jeremy with finality, putting his arm around Aelita. Together, they walk through the dormitory door.


	5. Emergence, Episode Two

Season One: Emergence

Episode Two

"Jeremy! Jeremy, you in there?" calls Odd, pounding on Jeremy's door eagerly. Still early in the morning, the long hallway is clear of other students.

"Odd? Um, come on in," says Jeremy, sounding very sightly groggy. Just some early-morning quantum theory.

Odd swings the door open and steps into the room. His hair is slightly wet from his morning shower, but stands in its cone. He quickly approaches the computer where Jeremy sits, still facing the monitor. It isn't hard to guess what he is working on as jumbles of mathematical figures slide across his screen, although the details would be incomprehensible to anyone but Aelita. The room is lit by morning light streaming through windows set in the far wall, above Jeremy's computer. The bed is unmade, and there are a few books on the floor, pushed to the sides.

"Yoohoo, Jeremy! Look what I found!" says Odd merrily, walking up behind Einstein. He holds up a newspaper, tossing it down on the desk next to the keyboard.

Jeremy stops his work on the computer, picking up the paper. It had been folded open to a specific page. His eyes quickly locate the article Odd was so interested in, barely a few paragraphs long.

_'The Devlon Sciences Institution announced at a press conference today that progress on its revolutionary quantum computing research has fallen behind schedule, and more news will not be available for some time. Requests from the press for more information was denied. We have unconfirmed reports that two members of the Devlon Sciences' board of investors have withdrawn funding, and the group is currently looking for alternate financing options.'_

"It's about time, too," says Odd, sounding satisfied. "It's been almost a month since we shut those guys down!"

"Well, it's not easy to announce to the world that your claims of 'the discovery of the century' have been put on hold because a researcher spilled coffee on it," says Jeremy with a quirky smile.

"A lot less exciting than saying it _exploded_, that's for sure. Remind me why you and Aelita didn't just blow the thing up?"

"The whole point is to remain _undetectable_, Odd. If we make it obvious, it'll just get harder and harder to attack. And 'blowing it up' definitely ranks as obvious. I'm just glad it played out so smoothly."

"Anyway, we'd better go down to the cafeteria. We're not going to have time to eat unless we head down soon," says Odd.

"Alright, give me two minutes to finish up here." Jeremy turns to his desktop, setting up programs to run autonomously while he eats.

"You know Jeremy, I'd be happy to-"

"Don't even think about it, Odd," Jeremy cuts him off sharply. With a few fast movements, he sets up a pair data compiler programs, which begin chewing though the dozens of code alterations Jeremy had made this morning alone, sewing them back into their respective programs. He then minimizes the other windows, and turns off the monitor on the off-chance someone pokes their head into his room. "See? All done."

Picking up their schoolbags, they head out the door, off to the cafeteria.

* * *

><p>Trays of food in hand, Odd and Jeremy approach their usual table in the center of the cafeteria together. Predictably, they are the last ones to arrive. Today, Ulrich, Yumi, Theo, and Patrick sit along the right side, and William, Emily, Sissi, and Aelita sit on the left. With waves of welcome from Yumi, Patrick, and Aelita, they take their seats. Jeremy sits down with his tray at the far end of the table, next to his cousin. Across from him, Odd sits down next to Aelita. The table isn't quite as talkative as normal. As had become their habit since the discovery of the first quantum computer, Ulrich and Yumi sit next to each other at one end of the table, both reading newspapers. Although normally still talkative in the mornings, they appear more serious today, avoiding conversation. Across from them, William, Sissi, and Emily are talking together. Theo has a small book in his lap, reading between bites.<p>

"I just saw the Kadic News crew this morning," Patrick mentions to Theo, on his left, who in return gives him a puzzled look. "I mean, Millie, Hiroki, and uh, Tamiya, right?"

Theo's face lightens up in understanding. "So Hiroki too, huh? I knew he asked Millie out, but I didn't know he was on the news crew," he says, grinning. "I haven't read their stuff in forever."

"They're more of a gossip crew than anything else," Jeremy informs his cousin. "They have a bad habit of poking their cameras everywhere."

"Well maybe you should take another look," says Patrick, shifting slightly. "I offered to make them a cover for their next addition." In addition to his guitar playing and decent athletic ability, Patrick also kept a small scrapbook and did graphic design on his laptop. "I mean, they _looked_ pretty professional," he says defensively, in response to Theo and Jeremy's stares. "They had a good camera and mic, and they didn't seem too bad. I thought I could help them out."

Both Theo and Jeremy continue looking at Patrick skeptically, but Patrick doesn't budge.

Relenting and taking another bite of his cereal, Theo says, "Alright, next edition, I'll get a copy. Your cover better be good! As for what is inside of it…" He smiles. "We'll see."

Patrick turns to Jeremy, who is bent low over his bowl, hiding his chuckles. "I mean, how bad could they be, right?" he asks hopefully.

"You should have seen them a few years ago," says Jeremy, grinning at his cousin's predicament. "Journalists in training. All the wacky stuff they published… I remember when Odd gave a funny picture of Yumi to them as a joke… then blamed Ulrich for it. It got published, and when Yumi found out, she took a picture of both of them coming out of the shower, and it made the next edition. Embarrassing pictures, teacher conspiracy theories, 'investigative journalism'… you want it and the Kadic News has it." He pauses, still smiling, looking at his cousin's very uncomfortable face. "But who knows, maybe they've changed. They've certainly been recruiting… Good luck!"

* * *

><p>Exiting the cafeteria after breakfast, the group walks towards the central courtyard, where many other students stand in clusters, waiting for the school day to begin. Odd and William are discussing setting up a pick-up team soccer game for lunch break. As usual, Aelita, Sissi, and Emily are together, but Yumi is not talking with them. Jeremy notes both Ulrich and Yumi hanging back together, looking slightly on edge. Letting everyone else walk ahead, he drops back next to them.<p>

"Yumi, is everything all right?" he asks carefully. If it's about them being 'together,' he doesn't want to get involved. With Yumi and Ulrich, you can't stay a neutral party - and besides, he already has his own relationship to worry about.

Ulrich speaks, his voice low. "We need to talk about the factory really quick… can you get Aelita?" Everyone is still involved in their conversations, and have hardly noticed the three dropping back. But they can't exactly ask their other friends to leave while they talk alone. Over the last few weeks, they would generally only talk about the factory when on the P.E. field, in the library, or when a true meeting was needed, in Jeremy's room, all locations affording some measure of privacy for conversation. So there must be some reason they want to talk now…

Jeremy's mind clicks over into Lyoko mode, cool and focused. "Ok. You two go get Odd and William." Yumi nods and splits off towards them.

As they talk, their group arrives at the courtyard. Theo and Patrick depart in the direction of the dormitory. William and Odd walk off to the side of the courtyard and lean against a stone column; Sissi, Emily, and Aelita continue walking towards the far end of the courtyard. Jeremy walks up quickly behind them.

"Aelita, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Quickly saying goodbye to her friends, she turns and walks to meet her boyfriend. She has her head tilted inquisitively, but Jeremy only tilts his own head in response, angling it toward Yumi, Ulrich, William, and Odd. They have all gathered under in the shade along the side of the courtyard, near a stone column supporting the overhang above their heads. Noticing the absence of Patrick, Emily, or the others, she immediately gets the picture. Factory business.

* * *

><p>"What's going on?" asks Aelita as she and Jeremy join the others in the shade.<p>

"This," says Ulrich, pulling a tightly folded newspaper article from his back pocket. He hands it to Jeremy, who begins reading, with Aelita and William peering over his shoulders.

Odd says dismissively, "oh, that? I found that this morning. So we know they shut it down for good, no big deal."

Ulrich crosses his arms, cocking an eyebrow slightly. "Great job, Odd. Did you try reading the article _after_ that one?

"Wha!" Odd immediately loses his dismissive air. Jamming his head in next to William, he begins speed-reading the article.

"Another quantum computer…" says Aelita, looking up and breaking the silence. "That was a bit faster than expected."

"Well, if it's out there, then we are too," says Jeremy confidently. "Good thing I've put the last three weeks to good use."

"Should we go over now?" asks William.

"There's no rush," says Jeremy. "This isn't like a XANA attack. If it's in the news, if much have been up and running for at least a couple weeks now, and a few more hours won't change much. And without the return to the past program, we can't go back and attend class like normal afterwards. So we'll just have to wait until after classes."

"And especially this morning," points out Odd. "We have auditorium first period. And it'll be really obvious if we're all absent together."

Jeremy mentally winces; he had forgotten all about auditorium this morning. "Ok, so we'll meet after classes again in the park."

A bell rings, signaling the beginning for the day. In a great mass, all the students in the courtyard pick up their bags and walk toward the gym entrance. Hefting their own bags, Jeremy, Odd, Aelita, Ulrich, William, and Yumi merge into the crowd converging on the narrow doorway.

* * *

><p>As they cross the threshold into the crowded gym, the noise is almost deafening. Folding chairs are set up rows, with an isle down the center. The space is already nearly filled, and almost all the chairs have been taken. The teachers are busy guiding the students down into rows of chairs, but to little effect; the student gradually shift themselves around the gym, seating themselves with their friends as the teachers guide the next group. With the additional students attending the school this year, there isn't quite enough seating for everybody. The lucky (or unlucky) students that arrive after the chairs have been filled stand around the perimeter of the gym, leaning against the walls.<p>

Seeing that the chairs are almost full, Yumi and the others walk around the perimeter of the building to the left, taking places along the side of the gym.

"William!" says a voice, coming from the far side of the gym. Emily stands and waves at William, smiling. Next to her is an empty seat. Waving in return, he pushes off the wall and edges his way through the sea of seated students toward her.

In the very front of the gym, Mr. Delmas stands on the stage, behind a podium. He taps the mike twice, testing it, and sending a low screech bouncing around the acoustic walls of the gym. The students gradually quiet.

"Quiet down, settle down," Mr. Delmas' voice echoes out over the microphone, quieting the last voices in the gym. Still the upstanding principal of Kadic, he is wearing his usual brown outfit. But this year, his face looks slightly more lined, his voice sounds slightly more tired, and if one looks closely, they could perhaps even detect a trace of grey in his hair. The changes are tiny, but nonetheless present. He speaks again, addressing the student body. "Good morning, Kadic Academy. As you may have noticed, we have added a significant number of new students this year, and despite the lack of incidents so far, I thought it would be beneficial for our new and old students alike to review…"

Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremy, and Aelita listen passively through the first few minutes of his speech, but in the back of their minds they are preoccupied with other thoughts.

"Jeremy, what were you working on in your room this morning?" asks Odd quietly.

"Getting the Lyoko Warriors back up to full strength," he says, smiling. I've modified your vehicles, and the new flight algorithm should be able to adapt to different environmental constants now - um, they should work anywhere now, that is," he adds, remembering he's talking to Odd, not Aelita. "I'd still take it slow on them though. There might be a bit of trial and error involved, and they'll probably need some more tweaking."

"No problem, Jeremy. As long as the OverBoard flies, I'll fly it!"

Jeremy smiles. "And you'll be pleased to know, Skidbladnir's looking a lot better. I've got the hull stable enough to allow it to return to the horizontal configuration, the weapons are back online… and now she's got a trick up her sleeve," he says secretively.

"And the NavSkids?" asks Ulrich.

"Sorry, nothing new to report there. I couldn't save any of the coding, and making them from scratch would take quite awhile. And besides, we won't need them in this fight. I'l get to it eventually... but for now I decided to get started on some other projects instead."

"Like what?" asks Yumi.

"You'll see when we get to the factory," he says happily.

* * *

><p>Now in the afternoon, the Lyoko Warriors trickle in from their last classes of the day, meeting in the park clearing. Ulrich, Jeremy, William, and Yumi have already arrived. They lean against the trees along the edge of the clearing, resting, but still alert for other students. If they loiter for long enough, someone is bound to see them. A nearly rustling in the bushes alerts them to somebody's approach, but they quickly relax as Odd and Aelita jog into the clearing.<p>

"Sorry we're late," apologizes Aelita as they arrive.

"Jim and Mrs. Hertz were arguing by the entrance," Odd explains.

Ulrich lifts the manhole cover, and the rest of the gang follow him down into the depths of the sewer. Entering last, Yumi replaces the manhole cover above their heads, leaving no evidence of their passage. Below, their newly replaced rides await them, including a fourth skateboard for William. Jeremy, Odd, and Aelita grab theirs first, and accelerate quickly down the tunnel. Flipping his own skateboard in his hand like an expert, William chases them down the walkway, with Ulrich and Yumi close on his tail.

* * *

><p>Only minutes later, they arrive at the factory ladder. The sewer ends meters past the ladder, the exit barred. Through the bars, they can see the factory beyond. Parking their boards and scooters against the wall, they climb up and jog across the bridge to the factory, rusted and abandoned. Once in the lab, Jeremy takes his seat at the interface, inserting the mike into his ear. For a moment, he turns to the keyboard, quickly entering a handful of commands.<p>

"And… there we go." Finished, he turns back to the group, arrayed in a semicircle to his left. "So, any of you guys interested in ditching the Spandex?"

Everyone gives him a blank stare, not following - except William, who grins widely. "You have it set up already?"

"Yep. If anyone wants a change, I figure now's the perfect time." Jeremy pauses, addressing the puzzled faces of Aelita, Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd. "After our last mission, I figured it's high time that your avatars get an update. If you guys want, I've set the scanner so that next time you go to Lyoko, you'll have a new, updated appearance, and possibly even new abilities!"

"So, I can ditch the purple cat suit?" asks Odd, cautiously enthusiastic.

"That's up to you, Odd. Your own subconscious actually is used by the supercomputer to generate your virtual body. When your brain is dematerialized, the supercomputer actually queries the-"

"So, don't think think about giant purple cats?" says Odd, cutting Jeremy off.

"Well, that really wouldn't help. It's only your subconscious that has control - so while it's up to you, it's not really up to you, get it?"

"…I'll take your word for it, Einstein."

"Any way we can make sure to keep things we like?" asks Ulrich. "I've gotten used to having two sabers around."

"Growing a bit attached to our weapons, are we?" pokes Odd.

"Hey, they're useful!" retaliates Ulrich. "Without them, we'd have been Kolossus chow."

"Sorry Ulrich, but I do anything about that. Your subconscious has control, not me. In fact, it's possible you will all look completely different - nothing is set in stone. But remember, it's all based on you - unless you _want_ to ditch the sabers, they should stay." Seeing that they remain unconvinced about moving forward, he continues, "and I think all of you should do it. It's been, what, over two years now since I did the last resc- since I made the old outfits, and I think that we've all grown a few inches since then - although I suppose you could keep them, if you _like_ being short on Lyoko, I mean."

Their resistance quickly fades.

"Alright, head down to the scanners, I'll do you one at a time."

The five of them return to the elevator, and door cycles shut.

Almost the instant the doors cycle shut, Jeremy's voice comes through the overhead speaker, sounding mumbled. "Seriously, were you _all_ thinking about Spandex last time?…"

Something that had been nagging at the back of Odd's mind suddenly clicks. Suspicious, Odd talks back, the microphone embedded on the elevator's ceiling picking up his voice. "Wait, Jeremy, I thought _you_ made the suits last time!"

"Uh…" There is a long pause. Up in the control room, Jeremy mentally kicks himself; he had forgotten the mike was still on and broadcasting. "Um- yeah, about that…" Aelita closes her eyes, shaking her head slightly, but has a small smile on her lips. William simply begins laughing in the corner of the elevator. With a clunk, the elevator comes to a halt at the scanner room, and the door cycles open.

* * *

><p>"Ready, Ulrich?" Jeremy asks from the control room.<p>

"Ready, Jeremy," comes Ulrich's response, as he positions himself in the scanner.

"Transfer: Ulrich." On Jeremy's console, the supercomputer cycles through the existing scanner profiles, pulling up Ulrich's card, now only emblazoned with a generic human silhouette.

"Scanner… virtualization!"

* * *

><p>In the Arena of Sector 5, the new, improved Ulrich appears in midair, and drops to the ground beneath. Standing upright, he quickly examines his new look. Jeremy was right, he <em>had<em> grown a few inches… and his suit has been altered as well. Black has replaced parts of the old brown and yellow on his chest and arms. Starting under his arms and along the side of his ribcage is a swathe of pure black, sweeping downwards and then cutting inwards, meeting right where he would wear a belt buckle. In the triangular spaces remaining on the sides between his hips and the black, the classic yellow remains. His sash-like belt and black pieces on his lower ribcage are gone. The "v" of brown is unchanged, although it doesn't come to a point, instead merging with the black at his lower belly. The remaining space, starting over his berate area and continuing downwards, is yellow. His shoulders are covered by a smaller pattern of black and yellow. But the material is not quite form-fitting, and it hangs just slightly away from his frame, although it tightens around his arms and legs. At his neck, the cloth comes together, forming a "v." And over all this, he wears a pair of tight black straps, coming from the sides of his waist, crossing over his chest, and passing over his shoulders like bandoliers. Around his waist he wears a simple black belt. The top half of his forearms are a yellow and brown pattern, like on his shoulders, but the rest is completely black ending in a pair of jet-black gloves. On his the back of his wrists he still wears a simple guard, looking almost to be made of wood, and on the back of his forearms the black fabric is reinforced with some type of padding underneath. His entire legs are covered in a camouflage pattern, mingling the black, brown, and yellow in small patches, the sole exception being a black stripe running up and down the outside of each leg. The front of his upper and lower legs also appear to be reinforced with a thin layer of padding to absorb impacts. His feet are encased in simple dark grey-green shoes. His headband remands almost untouched, but now has a tingle of black, and his hair is normal.

His hands reach back over his shoulders, seeking the hilts of his old sabers. It his relief, he finds the handles, and unsheathes the blades. As they slide out of the electronic scabbard, the blades glow a soft white. But they do not cease to glow as he holds them in his hands. The perfect white surface makes the blades almost hard to look at, the eyes sliding off to the sides as if with a will of their own. Lifting the blade right before his eyes, he is mystified by their shape. By rotating the blade slowly, he confirms they are in the shape of a very narrow ellipse, but his eyes cannot discern the actual curve. The sabers are approximately the same length, perhaps an inch longer, and are virtually straight, with an even more subtle curve. The grips are nearly identical, but the simple rectangular guards have been replaced by a elliptical design. Gold-colored, the guards contrast with the shining silver of the blades. Still glowing ever so softly, Ulrich slowly resheathes his sabers.

Unable to restrain his curiosity any longer, Jeremy's voice fills the silent Arena. "Well, how do you look?"

Ulrich grins evilly. "Wait 'till Odd gets a load of this."

* * *

><p>Odd appears in the air, arriving on Lyoko. He drops down, landing on all fours, his claws on the ground… "No! Nohooo! <em>Why am I still a purple cat!<em>"

Ulrich stands near, but keeps his quiet as Odd checks over every inch of his self. His shoulder pads, knee pads, yellow knee bands, and white belt-sash are gone, as is the red detailing on his torso and the picture of Kiwi. The suit still is covered in two shades of purple, but both are slightly darker, richer than they were before. And instead of orderly sections, the slash-like design formerly present on just his arms now extends across his entire body. Unlike Ulrich's new suit, Odd's still strictly hugs his skin, as it if is a part of him. He looks like a purple tiger. On his forearms, legs and along the side of his torso, under his arms, the pattern is a lighter hue, the darker, royal purple replaced by a sky blue, and there is a small, pure white diamond it the center of his chest, where Kiwi once resided. His feet are thinner now, and it no longer appears as if he is wearing platform shoes. In addition, three small claws now extend from the front of each shoe, like those present on ice climbing boots, to aid his climbing. His tail is still present, and he curls it in front of him, wagging it experimentally. Without a mirror, he reaches up, trying to explore his hair by feel. The second set of ears is gone, but his hair feels normal, until his hands reach the top…

"Ulrich, what the heck happened to my hair!" he asks fearfully.

"Calm down," says Ulrich. "I… kinda like it, actually."

Odd's famous cone is still present… ish. Still colored yellow and adorned with a single purple splotch. But the gods have decided to give Odd a slight haircut for Junior year. It looked as if someone had simply removed the top half of his cone, and instead spiked up the hair vigorously.

"But the rest of you…" Ulrich adds, smiling faintly and vaguely pointing at his cat suit. "Sorry Odd, but you're still the purple cat, and I'm still the cyber-samurai."

Odd, momentarily pleased by Ulrich's unusually favorable opinion of his hair, immediately reverts to looking sour.

"Ok you two, here comes Yumi," Jeremy says.

* * *

><p>Within seconds, Yumi appears and joins them on the flat, cool surface of the Arena. Ulrich watches as Yumi gets used to her new appearance, Odd still frantically trying to examine his hair. Yumi's face and hair are almost the same, but she now has a thin streak of deep purple a few inches long, starting near her ears and following her jawline.<p>

'Does everybody but me get face markings?' thinks Ulrich.

But her outfit has gone retro. Her torso in once again wrapped in her old red-and-black Japanese clothing. But it is different than before. The old markings are more distinct. Small gold emblems embellish the black side, and less flamboyant yellow markings inhabit the red side. The old yellow over-vest is completely gone, along with the fan pouch on her back. She tries to summon her fans, but nothing happens. Then she locates a small cloth case, like a tube, positioned horizontally on the back of her waist. Protruding from either end is a folded fan. Pulling them from the case, she examines them. The coloration and pattern of the blades is different, now a light blue, with jagged lines of yellow, but they are otherwise identical to before. She replaces them and continues exploring. Her red-and-black tunic doesn't stop at the shoulders. Instead, the colors continue down her arms, red on her left arm, black on her right. Her hands wear partial gloves, matching the colors of her sleeves. And over each shoulder, she wears a leather-like pauldron, colored to offset with her vest - the right pauldron is red, and the left one black. Her legs are black, from right where her tunic ends to her dark blue sneaker-like shoes. On the sides of her legs, a think yellow strip starts at her knees and runs to her feet. But on her shins, over the black, she wears leather-like guards, like the ones she wore last mission, but larger and brown. They remind Ulrich of his soccer shin-guards. He admires her new look. She looks like a Japanese warrior-ess, combining her natural beauty with sections of samurai-like armor and Tessen fans. Ulrich grins slightly. Now they are a fit match. Yumi sees Ulrich staring at her, and smiles fiercely in response.

* * *

><p>"And… virtualization!" Jeremy calls.<p>

Aelita appears and drops down, and is immediately surrounded by a curious Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich. Standing up slowly, her eyes run steadily over her arms and body. Her suit is literally a fusion of the old and new. She wears an overshirt, very similar her original one. But the coloration is strongly reminiscent of her second outfit. The top half of the overshirt is a two-shade design, like her second outfit, but the pink has been supplanted by a strong blood-red. The lower half is a pure white stripe, covering her chest. The overshirt ends, and the skin-tight undershirt is visible around her midsection. The undershirt is again the strong, willful red. But again like her more recent outfit, it has a pair of slanting white marks. Her old skirt, pink with a light pink border, circles her waist once more, but both pinks are more reddish than previously. And the fabric is thinner, lighter, and more rigid. Her legs are covered in another fabric, not totally skin-tight like before, but not as baggy as they were when she first set foot on Lyoko. Her leggings are red-pink, between the color of her overshirt and skirt. On the inside and outside of the leggings, a strip of dark, jungle green runs from under her skirt to her boots. She wears sleek boots, colored the brightest red, that rise to mid-shin. They almost resemble her own real boots from when they shut down the supercomputer, with a similar line of white running down their center. On her face, the markings are now more red, although a hint of pink-purple remains. Her hair is the same as always, although her earring is missing. Her shoulders have small pads, light pink. Her arms are completely bare from the shoulders down. A pink-red stripe on her left arm runs from her shoulder down her arm, ending at her glove, and a similar dark green line mirrors it on her right. Although she wears gloves like she used to, they are now red-purple and end at her wrist. An electric blue chevron has replaced the old star on her right wrist. Running her hand over it, it glows light blue, and her wings burst into existence. They remain pink, but seem to crackle with even more energy. Another swipe, and they disappear. Intrigued, she summons an energy field. It is a very slightly redder pink than before, and crackles with new energy. It ripples in her hand, then dissipates as she closes her palm. Done exploring, she turns to Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi.

* * *

><p>William stands in front of the scanner tube.<p>

"Ok, that should be long enough," says Jeremy, his voice relayed though the speakers. "Ready to go, William?"

William stares at the chamber, momentarily frozen. He remembers he very first trip to the scanners, the new world it opened up for him. A world of danger, and he paid a heavy price. Last time, they were all standing in the scanner room, welcoming him officially into the group after his initiation. And they'll be waiting for him again, just like before… And this time he intends to make good of it.

Resolutely, he steps into the scanner. "I'm ready."

"Transfer: William."

The doors to the scanner seal shut. William closes his eyes.

"Scanner."

Millions of tiny particles coalesce in the scanner, flying upwards past his face. He can't see them, but he feels them rushing by, on his face, under his arms, blowing through his shirt, and slowly penetrating his body, scouring every atom. The temperature rises, and his whole body tingles as the flow of particles gently lifts him off the floor of the chamber.

"Virtualization."

* * *

><p>William appears in midair, and like the others landing with a thud in the Arena. The four already present Lyoko Warriors turn to see him. He rises slowly from a kneeling position. His first sensation is his grip on the hilt of a sword laying over his shoulder. So his blade remains… He hoists the blade in front of himself, part of him dreading what he will see. The Eye? Black tendrils? But to his immense relief, neither are present. It is immediately obvious that the blade is not as wide as it used to be, somewhere between a third and half as thick. Significantly lighter than it used to be, and no longer burdened by his fears, he closely examines it, taking in all the details. Although it's lost just over half of it's former width, it has only lost perhaps six inches in length. The steely blade is colored a dark blue-grey. The triangular symbol near the hilt is gone, and the handle is a blue so dark it is almost black, but with a tiny decorating line of blazing orange. He swings it experimentally. It is still a large weapon, nowhere near as nimble as Ulrich's blades, but now versatile enough to both deflect a burst laserfire or slice through a Blok squad. His attention turns towards his own appearance. His hair is less unkept, although still slightly messy. And his suit is no longer bathed in white, and now has two layers. Over his chest is a heavily padded section, colored both black and the same steely dark navy blue as his blade. Beneath that, on his belly, is a thinner undersection, colored more of the same dark navy blue. On his sides, under his arms, are areas of white. At his waist, he wears a heavy-looking jet-black belt with a matching buckle the diameter of a tennis ball. Over his torso, fine orange lines are etched into his suit. A double string of orange runs around his belt, and buckle is laced with multiple delicate lines of orange. His legs are totally black from the waist down; a pair of orange filaments run down the back of his legs. He doesn't even appear to wear shoes; the black formfitting material simply continues, almost like a sock. And while the others may have lost their kneepads, William has gained them - big, heavy, and jet-black like the rest of his legs. Like his belt, they almost look to be made of metal. Looking up at his shoulders, they are also adorned with small, metallic, black guards. His arms are both dark navy blue and black - the colors fade into one another, shifting, without distinct lines separating them. There are no orange marks on his arms at all. The fabric continues to form gloves for his hands. Unlike the gloves of the other Lyoko Warriors, his to not leave his fingers free, and his hands are completely hidden beneath the blended blue-black. On his gloves, dozens of tiny orange lines are present, like the conduits on a circuit board. The back of his forearms are armored, like Ulrich's. But the guard is not simple wood, but instead more of the jet-black alloy, blending in with the suit.<p>

* * *

><p>Ulrich and Odd look on with approval, and William grins widely, throwing his narrower, blue blade back over his shoulder. Behind them, Yumi and Aelita are still looking each other over.<p>

"I'm liking the red," says Yumi, looking at her from head to toe.

"Thanks. You and Ulrich look like a fit match now," responds Aelita, winking.

Yumi looks over at Ulrich once more, where he stands with Odd and William. The two girls approach their group.

William addresses Yumi. "What do ya think? And - wow, you look different! But - good."

"Thanks," replies Yumi, pulling out her fans deftly. "I had this red and black when we first came to Lyoko - but the armor is new. And the blue and orange suits you - uh, literally," she says, belatedly noticing the double meaning in her own words.

They all share a quick laugh.

Mischievously, Aelita says, "How do you like the red, Od- Odd, what happened to your hair?"

"I. Can't. See. It," growls Odd. He paws at it helplessly.

"I like it… I think," says Aelita, sounding totally taken aback by the absence of Odd's cone.

"It's just going to take some getting used to," laughs Yumi good-naturedly, and William, Ulrich, and Aelita join in.

"Am I allowed to look?" Jeremy's voice enters the Arena, reminding them once more of the outside world.

"Of course, Jeremy!" says Aelita, stepping back to get a better view of the other Lyoko Warriors.

On Jeremy's screen, a window opens, giving a clear view of William, Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd against the blue background of the Arena. He leans forward, looking them all over. Aelita, the one he wanted to see most of all, is absent, as she is providing the view. Just then, another window opens, showing Aelita staring at the camera, formidable but beautiful in her red outfit. In Aelita's feed, Yumi winks discreetly. Jeremy blushes, even though he is alone in the control room.

"Uh… wow," he says, his eyes flicking back and forth between the two windows. His eyes keep returning to the image of Aelita, standing tall in her red suit, still unaware that Jeremy can see her. Finally, after a good look at each of them, he tears his eyes away, and pulls another window to the front.

"In addition to your suits, it's also possible that your abilities changed," he says. "You may have lost them, or even gained new ones."

Instinctively, William and the other Lyoko Warriors look around, examining themselves once more, as if expecting some sort of signal or sudden inspiration.

Letting go of his tail, Odd says, "Any way you can tell us what our abilities are, Einstein?"

"Sorry, but I can't tell from here. You'll just have to check your old ones and keep a lookout for new stuff as we go. You guys learned how to use your powers pretty quick last time, it's probably almost instinctual." He checks the time quickly. "We should probably get moving. Head up to the Skid."

"On it!" says Ulrich, and he breaks for the exit, his SuperSprint kicking in. The others jog out of the Arena in a pack behind him.

* * *

><p>Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, William and Aelita crackle into existence in their respective places aboard the Skid. Odd hardly hears Aelita go through the launch procedure, just glad that they won't have to stand the entire way. There is a slight shudder as the docking supports disengage, then a minor swooping sensation in his belly as the Skid rises. Looking out the pod's small viewport, he sees them rise out of sector five proper and into the celestial dome.<p>

* * *

><p>The vertical Skid bursts upwards through the sea, and everyone in the Skid cranes their necks to peer out the small viewports. There isn't much to see. The empty sky is a flat yellow color. Everyone is the Skid searches the sky, looking for something, and expecting that at any moment someone else will burst out with news… but the Skid remains quiet as the seconds tick by.<p>

"Finally, there's something," says Jeremy. On his console, a window shows a view of the yellow sky, with a hazy… something hanging in the distance. At a command on the keyboard, the magnification doubles. "Remote control system for cameras on the Skid," he explains. "It's faster and easier than waiting for you to send a visual - no offense."

"None at all. You said you saw something?" asks Aelita.

"There's something in the distance. About two o'clock from your position, above you at about forty degrees."

"Let's check it out." With her hands on the controls, she sends the Skid into a climb.

* * *

><p>Several minutes into the climb, they are still quite aways away from the platform. William is secretly glad to be upright again, even if it means having to stand. He hadn't known quite what to expect when the Skid transitioned to the horizontal position. Suddenly, he found himself cutting through the quantum sea, <em>upside down<em>. Jeremy had said that an artificial gravity field generated by the Skid's pylon would keep him seated, and he indeed had stayed firmly in his seat the entire ride… but he still found the experience disconcerting. And now, positioned facing backwards are the vertical Skid, he didn't have any clue how close they were to reaching the platform, and he wasn't about to start whining, 'are the there yet?' - he'd leave that to Odd, who could't see much more than he could, looking out the small viewport facing to starboard. William goes back to staring out the window, looking at the yellow sky for the even the smallest, most distant blip to appear in his field of vision. A few minutes ago, Ulrich's keen eyes had spotted a second platform, barely a speck against the yellow sky, and Jeremy's camera system had found a third. But William just sees more yellow. Over the comms, he hears Jeremy's voice.

"Aelita, I think I can get us some more speed out of the Skid. Transition horizontally, and engage the primary thruster."

"Will it operate safely inside here? We never tested it on Lyoko."

"Well, we never had enough room. I did a once-over of the code a few days ago. It'll work just fine, but keep your acceleration under 75% until you reach cruising velocity, just in case."

"Aye, aye, Jeremy," says Aelita.

Giving a tiny sigh in the isolation of his NavSkid, William watches out his window as his pod rotates along with the Sikd, until all he can see is the sea below.

The main engine ignites, rocketing the Skid towards the platform.

* * *

><p>As they approach, they get a better look at the platform. It is a massive, brown, rectangular plate, several times larger than a football field. From below it, massive grey cables hang down. The largest and longest of the cables are rooted in the center of the rectangle, larger around then the Skid and extending down even farther than the platform is wide. Away from the center, the bunches of cables get progressively smaller and shorter. Finally, the Skid rises over the lip of the platform, and the topside is visible. But as with the last world, there is little to be seen. The surface is mostly flat, with a handful of large polygonal rocked scattered about, the same color as the platform.<p>

The Skid returns to the vertical position, hovering over the platform.

"Hmm, that's odd. Aelita, move a bit closer to the center of the platform. Perfect… programming tower," declares Jeremy. Beside the Skid, a perfect, normal, Lyoko tower springs into existence. "One genuine, Lyoko tower, as ordered," he says smugly. "How did I do, Odd?"

As Aelita docks, Odd catches a glimpse of the tower out the viewport. "Pretty good." A pause. "But it doesn't match the landscape at all."

"Hey, we're not here to redecorate," says Jeremy, frowning. He activates the tower, which radiates green under the pink trails of energy already coming from the Skid. "Ready to disembark?"

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Ready."

"But there's nothing here-" Odd's sentence is cut off as the transport system engages. Along with the others, he appears on the platform. His tail whips about behind him, but he refrains from continuing.

Jeremy begins talking. "Ok, I'll set up the handshake protocol. It'll just take a couple minutes to adapt the-"

"Sorry, Jeremy," interrupts William. "But you might want to hold off on that." His points across the platform. The air is flickering.

Jeremy's console emphatically agrees, red warnings flashing on the screen and in his ears. "Well, so much for that!" says Jeremy, his voiced raised. He thinks quickly. "Ok, ok… trust me for a second. Aelita and…" in a microsecond, Jeremy thinks over his options. Who can he trust at the controls? Yumi. But William has no vehicle. He would be of less use outside. Can he trust William with the Skid? He thinks back over the two and a half years he's known him. Trust him? Then? No. Now… yes. After only a heartbeat, he continues, "…William, head back to the Skid. Aelita, I'm hacking in right now. The moment it's clear, I'm sending you over. William, you're taking the controls." William surprised expression disappears, along with the rest of him, reappearing in the control cabin. Aelita appears in Yumi's pod, NavSkid 1. The air is still flickering, as if the AI, wherever it is, is having trouble.

Jeremy continues talking rapid-fire, as his hands fly over the keyboard, doing a dozen things at once. "Here are your vehicles. Take up defensive positions and protect the Skid." On his console, the small window disappears, replaced by another, larger one. Three more appear. The first, a floorplan layout. The second, security systems. Plans and schematics rapidly scroll across the third window.

"i'm in. I have access to the blueprints and security system. I'll be able to- well, that's convenient," says Jeremy, pausing his typing for the first time.

"What is it, Jeremy?" asks Aelita from inside the NavSkid.

For both Aelita's benefit and his own thought process, he explains. "Towers are interfaces allotted a set amount of the quantum computer's computing power. This quantum computer has extremely little processing power. It can only power a handful of towers. If we can activate more than that number, we will exceed the total available computing power, creating a draw overlap, and eventually fry the entire thing."

"Sounds good," says William, expecting a catch.

"However, I like discovered when I tried to program our tower, I can't create a quantum node virtual acc-"

"Tower!" yells Odd, outside the Skid.

"-ess point just anywhere in here," Jeremy continues without pause. "On Lyoko, I could, although I can't place them too close to each other. Those hanging tendrils seem to be some sort of primitive control access point, probably created by the AI, tapping into the quantum computer, like a proto-tower. They are already taxing the computer's processing power. Therefore, a safety protocol has activated, preventing the creation of any more access points. I can, however, convert one of the existing access points into a full QNVAP, and link it to the tower. So we would need to fly to several of these platforms to set up and activate towers."

Not taking her eyes off of the still-flickering air, Yumi asks, "So why don't we just teleport over?"

Jeremy answers, "It's not that simple. For starters, the security system in the lab is more complex than the first. I'd have to set up a loop in two of the cameras, which I could probably get away with. There's nobody in the lab, but that could change. Then we have to find a way to sabotage the computer externally, and it's possible that alone could take as long as doing it from inside here. And if we succeed, we have to hope they don't find reason to suspect sabotage. It just more risk, and I don't have to remind you all we can't just return to the past if we make a mistake. We do it this way, and we are guaranteed success, with no risk of discovery. Make sense?"

"Alright, alright, just do it!" says Yumi.

For the air has finally stopped flickering. Eight shapes resolve on the plateau… and then five of them take to the skies. Shaped like an orange boomerang, with a total wingspan of about four and a half feet, they soar up into the air. A red dot on their counterpoint hints to a laser weapon. The three remaining monsters are odd-looking. They have a domed head, shaped like a perfect hemisphere, about four feet in diameter. Under it are four long, spindly legs, splayed out to the sides from under the hemisphere like a spider's. On the side of the hemisphere is a red laser emitter. The circular heads rotate, turning their lasers towards the team, and they begin to advance on their thin legs. Finally able to see their foes, Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi mount their vehicles and take off. The boomerangs swoop closer, firing a volley of lasers. Odd retaliates first, nailing one with a laser arrow. Ulrich looks down, and notes that the monsters below are not firing. Smiling, he realizes why - they cannot tilt their lasers skyward on their rigid heads. It looks as if the AI did not count of them being able to fly.

Jeremy speaks to William and Aelita back aboard the Skid. "I need just a couple minutes to tied up as much processing power as I can in the tower. Aelita, go help the others." She nods, although Jeremy cannot see her. "Disembarking: Aelita." She appears outside, and the domed monsters turn to her hopefully, but she activates her wings to join in the dogfight above, pausing only to nail one of the three domes with a reddish-pink energy field. They begin walking in the opposite direction.

As Jeremy types, working on the tower, he begins feeding instructions to William, still in the control cabin. "William. See that lever to your right? Don't pull that. Right above it should be two white buttons. Don't push those. To the left of those there should be a square red button. Hit that one."

William complies. "What I am I doing?" he asks Jeremy.

Jeremy continues typing as he talks, multitasking. "Don't worry, you aren't flying anywhere," Jeremy assures him. "If you were, I would have asked Yumi," he says matter-of-factly. The moment he says the words, he winces, wishing he could take them back - he was speaking automatically. But William, seated in the control cabin, doesn't take any offense. He doesn't feel very qualified to even _sit_ in the cockpit, surrounded by dozens of foreign controls.

"Alright, take the right joystick. Below the left joystick, there is a white keypad. See it? Hit the top center button, then the second one from the left on the bottom, then the fourth one over on the middle row, then the top center one again. That should open the interface screens. Okay, next…"

* * *

><p>Odd rides on his OverBoard, above the platform, with two of the last three boomerangs on his tail. They fire again, and he takes evasive action. Aelita swoops in from high above, nailing one with an energy field. The other turns toward her, getting behind Aelita as her built-up momentum continues her dive. It lines up a shot and fires. Unable to turn, Aelita instead flips over in midair, turning to face the bolt. Instinctually, she throws up her left arm, holding it outstretched, palm open. An energy shield snaps into place in front of her hand. About two feet wide, shaped like a rounded square, and colored red-pink, it exists only for a moment before intercepting the laser and crackling back out of existence. Stunned for only a moment, Aelita quickly inverts again, pulling up mere meters above the ground. More lasers suddenly appear around her, coming from below. The remaining two domes have found a rock, and have lifted two of their legs onto it, and are now firing up at an angle towards her. She turns to engage them with Odd as Ulrich and Yumi handle the last boomerang.<p>

Suddenly, three lines of white fire erupt from the Skid. Two arc gracefully over, obliterating both the domes. The third chases after the boomerang. Ulrich and Yumi, also in pursuit on their vehicles, break off, and the boomerang explodes seconds later.

"How's that for firepower?" asks Jeremy. Everyone turns toward the Skid. The port energy torpedo tubes glow as they cool. Up in the control cabin, behind the tinted window, William grins and throws them all a quick two-finger salute.

"I've reconfigured the Skid's weapon mainframe. It's now isolated from the docking process." Jeremy types in several more commands on his keyboard. "I'm almost done, just a few more seconds."

On the platform some distance away, the air flickers once more, immediately revealing a flight of five boomerangs and three domes. William fires again, two torpedoes this time. Two more downed boomerangs.

"Ok, I'm done!" yells Jeremy. "I'm bringing you all back aboard. Sorry William, fun's over. Beginning transport."

William disappears from the control cabin, and appears back in his own NavSkid. Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi appear in their own pods, and Aelita appears back behind the controls. They undock from the tower, and transition to horizontal mode. Right before Aelita engages the main thruster, William gets a last look at the platform from his position on the Skid's underbelly. The boomerangs are circling the tower, and the domes are converging on its base.

"Jeremy, the monsters are at the tower. They're doing something," he alerts Einstein.

"Uhhhhh ohhhhhh." says Jeremy. "If they can access the tower, we may have seriously miscalculated."

"I'm turning around," says Aelita, and she begins to bring the nose around to starboard.

Too late. A dome enters the tower.

"No!" shouts Jeremy, as they all look on helplessly.

Then, the tower pulses a brighter green. Something appears on the far side of the tower from where the dome entered. Ashes.

William laughs in relief. "It's all right, Jeremy. It looks like the tower didn't agree with it."

"That's a relief," says Jeremy, leaning back in his chair. "If the AI gets access to a fully operational tower…"

Aelita has still not turned the ship away from the platform. "Are you sure they won't be able to get in?" she asks.

"Not unless they can make a trip to Lyoko," he says happily. "Good thing I had the Lyoko tower schematics loaded…"

"I'll take full credit for that, Einstein!" calls Odd.

Aelita turns Skidbladnir back away from the platform, towards another one in the far distance. The three boomerangs break off from the tower, and begin towards the Skid, still aways behind them. Three torpedoes casually arc up and over the Skid, colliding with their targets.

"Main thruster engaged."

The Skid rockets away, towards the next platform.

* * *

><p>"Good job everybody! That's two down, and only a few more to go," Jeremy says encouragingly over the comms.<p>

"Coming up quick on the next one," Aelita calls to the others.

The Skid approaches the platform at full speed, closing distance. As it reaches the platform, Aelita decelerates rapidly, burning off their momentum and transitioning to vertical. Jeremy creates the tower, and Aelita docks. The tower glows green as Jeremy wastes no time in getting to work.

"We should expect company," says Aelita. "William, mind if I get a turn with the big guns?"

Jeremy cautions, "I made a custom targeting procedure for the launchers so that they can fire while the Skid's docked. The commands might take a bit of getting used to."

"Go for it, Aelita," encourages William. "Just remember to shoot the monsters, not us."

"Hmmm… no promises. But if you managed, so can I. Any tips for the first time user?"

"…ever played _Galactic Invaders_?"

She muses for a second. "Two, three, or the original? Odd and I make a mean team in-"

"Enough chatting, you guys," Jeremy breaks in. "We already have monsters coming this way. Disembark: Odd, Yumi, William, Ulrich."

They appear on the plateau, their vehicles already waiting. Eight boomerangs and six domes are approaching, the faster boomerangs out front. A quick pair of torpedoes from the Skid pares down the air force to a more manageable six boomerangs. Odd and Yumi mount up and climb rapidly in preparation for a diving attack. Ulrich offers a seat on the OverBike to William, who quickly jumps on. Ulrich wastes no time in activating flight mode. No point in engaging the domes until they have to.

As Odd and Yumi reach the apex of their climb, lasers reach up from below them, not coming from the boomerangs. Unprepared for an attack, Odd's OverBoard takes a hit, and Odd plummets. His forward momentum carries him clear of the boomerangs, and even over the domes, landing him on the far side of the battlefield. The domes reverse course back towards Odd, hoping to corner him.

William sees Odd's predicament. "Get me to Odd," he says shortly. I'll bail him out while you and Yumi deal with the flyers." Ulrich simply nods and accelerates.

Overhead, Yumi continues the attack without Odd, diving alone into the pack of boomerangs, which scatter momentarily.

Ulrich dives slightly, flying low under the aerial battle. As they pass under the boomerangs, William gets a better look at the domes, attempting to surround Odd. Their laser is different now; still a red dot, it slides over the surface of the dome in any direction, without the head rotating. William jumps off the OverBike while still at speed, landing hard right next to the group of domes. Wasting no time, he drives his blue blade into the nearest one, as Ulrich ascends to help Yumi. Pausing their attack on Odd, who has taken cover behind a small boulder thirty feet away, the five remaining domes retrain their lasers on this new, big-bladed attacker. Suddenly, his heroic jump doesn't seem to be such a good idea. They may not fire fast, be he can't block or dodge five at once. He blocks two lasers with his blade, backpedaling towards another boulder behind him. Turning to run, he takes a bolt in the back, and dives behind the boulder.

Three of the domes use steady alternating fire to suppress Odd, and the others advance on William, climbing over the top of the rock. William is still rising from his dive when a thin mechanical leg edges over the boulder. Suddenly, William's vision flashes, and the world around him takes a blue-grey tint. The first dome pulls itself fully over the edge, looking around. William grasps at the hilt of his sword, lying on the ground, as the laser eye rakes over him. Unexpectedly, the domes withdraw, pulling their bodes back over the rock and towards the other three domes to reinforce those besieging Odd. As William lifts his blade up, his eye is drawn to a light on his glove. The orange lines glow with a fiery light, as they do all over his body. The air around him seems to ripple, like a mirage. William smiles fiendishly. With renewed vigor, he holds up his blade and runs to help Odd.

* * *

><p>Odd hides behind his boulder, taking cover. He had downed one of the domes, but two more had come to reinforce. Where was William? Devirtualized? The domes don't do that much damage…<p>

He throws his head over the lip, hoping to squeeze off a shot before the domes return the favor... and the dome he was about to aim at explodes spectacularly. William's form shimmers into existence, right behind the former dome, his blade raised. The three domes hurriedly try to focus their weapons on William. Emboldened, Odd leaps on top of his boulder, blowing one dome to smithereens, then another. William easily deflects a final laser before planting his blade in the last dome's hemispherical head.

Odd leaps off his rock and runs to join him. "Ok, now _that_ was cool!"

William begins to respond, but a series of explosions overhead cut him off. A large volley of torpedoes collides with a massive swarm of Boomerangs. Some plummet out of the sky, but a substantial flock remains. It looks like the air force received some serious backup. Yumi's OverWing takes a hit, and she freefalls momentarily, before landing roughly on the back of the OverBike. Ulrich accelerates back towards the Skid.

On the ground, William and Odd mirror their movements.

Right on cue, Jeremy finishes his work. "I'm done! Embarking: Yumi, Ulrich." The transport system picks them right off of the OverBike, which falls out of the sky harmlessly. Redoubling their efforts, Odd and William sprint for the Skid as the boomerangs spot them and begin to turn. "Come on you guys, just a little closer!"

As the boomerangs converge, they enter transport range and vanish. Not wanting to stick around, Aelita undocks and begins to move off, transitioning to horizontal. The seven boomerangs encircle the Skid, firing laser blasts that play against the shields. Torpedoes arc out and detonate, taking out many of them. The potent shields of the Skid only decline marginally with each impact from the crude lasers, and before long the boomerangs are vanquished. Jeremy gives Aelita a heading towards the next platform, and they zoom away into the yellow sky.

* * *

><p>"Fifth platform in sight," calls Aelita happily.<p>

"Is it just me, or is the AI running out of monsters?" asks Odd. They had taken the fourth platform with much less difficulty.

"It's the towers," responds Jeremy. "We're literally clogging up the system." A pause. "Aelita, it looks like you have a welcoming committee."

A squadron of six boomerangs breaks away from the platform to intercept the Skid. In the cockpit, Aelita calls up the targeting system. In flight, the computer can automatically identify and lock targets. Before, when the NavSkids would join the fight, the computer would rely on FoF tags to differentiate hostiles. Manual target selection and corrections are usually unnecessary, and the pilot is only required to pull the trigger. And with the boomerangs approaching head on in the clear sky, without interfering laserfire or NavSkid jetwash, the computer gains a solid lock on all six bogeys in a matter of seconds.

Aelita depresses the trigger. "Torpedoes away." A full rack of six torpedoes bursts from the twin torpedo tubes, all finding their targets, decimating what is already likely to be a small defense force. A tactical error on the AI's part. Aelita slows to the hover over the platform. She and Jeremy coordinate almost without thinking, and the Skid is docked to a newly created and activated tower within seconds. She listens to Jeremy's briefing from the control cabin.

"Final one, you guys. Just keep them occupied for a couple minutes, and I'll have this place set to blow. Everyone ready?"

A chorus of 'ready' echoes through Skidbladnir's comm net.

* * *

><p>Aelita watches from the Skid's cockpit as they array themselves in front of the Skid. She keeps her eyes scanning the platform. There: four boomerangs and five domes. Through the tinted window, she sees Odd and Yumi mount up for an aerial battle while the blade-wielding boys approach the domes on foot. William, running with his blade aloft, vanishes into thin air. Aelita has already opened the targeting interface, and is busy manually designating targets. Without FoF tags, the computer cannot differentiate between the Lyoko Warriors and their foes. Six red triangle wireframes appear on her screen, each centered on a monster. They slowly rotate around, shrinking as they lock on, although the rapidly moving targets and laserfire are slowing the process. William reappears, his blade jammed into one of the domes. The computer misreads, and the torpedo formerly locking onto that dome transfers to William. Aelita manually cancels the lock, reapplying it to another dome. Two beeping tones sound in rapid succession. The computer has a lock on a pair of the boomerangs. She considers holding out for more targets; the massive energy signature of the torpedoes will largely disrupt the other, partial locks. But from the looks of the battle, there won't be need for a second volley. She looses the pair of torpedoes from the starboard launcher. Just in case, she retargets onto the single remaining boomerang and two domes. 'This <em>is<em> a lot like _Galactic Invaders_. Just needs some dogfighting.'

* * *

><p>The last monsters are quickly eliminated, and without more incoming, the Lyoko Warriors resume standing in an arc around the Skid as Jeremy finishes his work. As he finishes, everything around them shudders, like a burst of static coursing through the world itself. Time to leave. Aelita brings the crew back aboard, and they triumphantly dive back into the quantum sea.<p>

* * *

><p>"And another one bites the dust," says Odd, satisfied. They walk back through the park in the evening, as the sun sets. Now back on Earth, Odd's hair has returned to it's old cone. Small conversations spring up and die down as they walk back to the main campus side by side. The new suits. <em>Galactic Invaders<em>. The domes and boomerangs. William's cloaking, and the possibility of more new abilities. The hostile AI, whom they never met. A few minutes later, the gang arrives at the dorm. This time, there is only a quick round of goodbyes and a reminder from Jeremy to keep their cells handy. Yumi waves goodbye as she walks for the campus gate. Still talking happily after the day's excitement and discovery, the remaining five Lyoko Warriors step through the dormitory entrance.

* * *

><p>Most students only take note of the happy conversation present within the latest group as they enter. But one student, leaning against the outside of the dorm, takes healthy notice of their arrival. They were coming from the park? Were they studying out there? People don't laugh after spending three hours on homework…<p>

Taelia shrugs. It's not her job to find out. But she may want to keep an eye on them… With the day drawing to a close, she too enters the dormitory for the night.


	6. News, plus Emergence, Episode Three

**Author's Notes: I should have posted this months ago, I have been far better at keeping my readers over at Code Lyoko Veterans updated than those on . I have stopped writing The Forewarned. This episode is an incomplete, rough draft, and represents the last of the work I will do on this story. I have some good news, however, to go with this disappointment: the reason I halted work on The Forewarned is that I have a bigger project in mind. Although I love CL, there are some fundamental things about the show that simply don't make sense. As a person governed by logic, I could tolerate those oddities in stories I read, but not in what I myself write. Furthermore, I have a grander vision of Lyoko and CL as a whole than what even MoonScoop created. Thus, I have started work on The Horizon Chronicles. This is a complete, radical rewrite of the Lyoko Warriors first adventure. And I mean radical... name changes, personality changes, a Lyoko that a) looks different, and b) isn't even called Lyoko anymore... anyway, I have my work cut out for me. The more threads of the story I try to 'fix', the more the overall plot frays. But I think it can be done. Furthermore, The Horizon Chronicles will be written for those who have never seen or heard of Code Lyoko before. The characters and settings will be built from the ground up in the text. And the last note, particularly relevant for my readers: I won't be posting any parts of the story until I have the remastered seasons 1-2 complete. I won't be posting as I go. I'm doing this to motivate myself, to make sure my own interest in the story is what is driving me, not my desire to post the next section. As for those of you who liked The Forewarned: the name is going away, but the plot isn't. :) Although The Horizon Chronicles will be very different from classic CL, the plots will be compatible; the plot arc of The Forewarned will form the second half of the Horizon Chronicles series. So below you will see the last of my work on The Forewarned, and the last of my work for at least six months to a year. But hopefully, I'll be back, with something that will blow this away. :)**

Code Lyoko

The Forewarned

Episode Three

by James May

The sun hangs over the grassy sports field in the late morning. Students file out of the gymnasium, all dressed for P.E. Arriving on the field, they cluster around Jim, with his clipboard in hand and whistle around his neck.

Jim glances down at the clipboard, reading off the pairings for the day. "Teams one and five on the far field! Teams three and four on the second field! Teams two and - six, you're on the near field. Let's get moving!"

The assembled students spread out, some jogging to their assigned places, others walking slowly, talking.

Ulrich walks quickly through the others. Two of the boys behind him mutter something about the 'pink twins.' He rolls his eyes. Those two had quickly become the focus of the bored, gossiping underclassmen at Kadic. 'It's going to be an interesting game…'

He and a few others split off, walking to a swollen, bulky bag lying on the grass. Ulrich arrives first, pulling open the drawstring and extracting a classic, black-and-white soccer ball. He kicks it once experimentally, then tucks the ball under his arm and walks towards the rest of team two, already on the playing field. For today, the grassy field has been divided into three sections. Small orange cones dot the perimeter of each, and serve as makeshift goalposts.

Odd, over at the left forward position, is stretching energetically on the ground, reaching for his toes. Aelita is standing at right forward. Sissi stands right next to her, whispering something quickly in Aelita's ear. Seeing Ulrich approach, she falls back into position, their lone defender. Emily stands in the small goal wearing goalie gloves, knees bent and ready to go. She had grown over the last few years. Straight As, as always; but she has also become a good athlete, and a particularly strong runner. Although still as sweet as Aelita, she had gained Sissi's flare for socializing, and an inner fire rivaling Yumi's - and that fire is put to good use on the sports field.

Ulrich takes is place at center forward, dropping the ball down and trapping it under his foot. The other team stands in a circle on their half of the field, like a football huddle. They split, walking to their positions calmly. Erika moves swiftly, with purpose, arriving opposite of Ulrich. Like everyone else, Erika wears full a full athletic outfit, with her straight slivery-blonde hair pulled firmly back in a ponytail. She looks like she means business. Also a junior this year, she arrived in Kadic along with the influx of new students. Thin but strong, her serious, powerful, and cool nature had earned her both respect and dislike almost from the moment she arrived. She never did anything halfway, whether in the classroom or on the sports field. Ulrich sizes up his opponent, smiling slightly. This was going to be fun.

Romain takes his position at forward. "Ready, Odd?" he calls lightly.

Odd springs up to a standing position, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "You betcha I am!"

Having grown since 9th grade at Kadic, Romain is an ever-present, friendly face at Kadic. He played as Jim in Odd's old short film, and has since played a part in many videos at Kadic, made by many different students. Steady and dependable, there's hardly a student he doesn't get along with.

Their defender is Shane, another new arrival at Kadic academy. He is tall and lanky, with short brown hair, slightly spiked in the front. His grades are decent, and he is fairly athletic. Although relaxed and generally not talkative, he can be surprisingly generous, from community service to assisting younger boarders at Kadic with homework.

Holly stands inexpertly in goal, gloved hands raised, as if expecting a ball to come flying in at any moment. She is short, and has wavy, light brown hair. Although she is not very athletic, it is not for lack of trying. She arrived at Kadic a week after the term started, part of the chaos surrounding the flood of new students.

Taelia slowly takes her place. She makes eye contact with Aelita, then looks away. Both girls look slightly awkward, and somewhat on edge. Taelia, of course, knows nothing of her past connection to Aelita and the gang, the secret that was revealed, then buried once more. It has been three years since then, and she looks it: taller, more mature. Her personality is defined by her parents' death. She is serious, formal, and follows rules to the letter. To those who do not know her well, she is cold, and even condescending, judging of others. And after Taelia's arrival at the beginning of the year, more than a few students drew a connection between her and Aelita, much to the annoyance of them both. Questions and rumors abound floated around the school wildly for the first few weeks, and only died down somewhat as school got into full swing. Already uncomfortable because of their hidden connection, Aelita further disliked being constantly compared to someone so utterly different from herself. And Taelia, having been alone her whole life, was unsettled seeing Aelita constantly pointed out to her, attending classes happily with her friends, a portrait of what she had never been. Under other circumstances, the two girls could of gotten along well enough. But the ever-present reminders, jokes, and stories from their peers created tension between them. At Kadic, Taelia dived headfirst into her studies, devoting herself to her classes. She didn't look to make friends, but she slowly found a place she belonged. She studied with other students, focused peers like herself, and they all mutually benefitted. And although she retained her all-business nature, she treated them as equals, and they became acquaintances - 'friends' being just a shade too strong. Taelia learned long ago to keep her feelings wrapped up, and she isn't about to stop anytime soon.

Ulrich checks over his own team. Odd gives him his signature grin and thumbs up. A quick nod and slight smile from Aelita. Sissi smiles, kicking one leg into the air, her approximation of 'ready to go!' Emily raises a gloved hand and arm into the air from back in goal. Ulrich faces Erika, whose posture alone indicates she is ready. Ulrich takes his foot off the ball, rears back, and launches it into the air.

Fifteen minutes into the game, everyone is playing strong. Neither team had scored, despite their best efforts. Erika dribbles up the field towards Ulrich. On the miniature field, she has to find a way to get around him. Keeping the ball close, she maneuvers right, then left, trying to work her way past Ulrich. She closes, giving a tiny shove and spinning back to her right. Ulrich responds in kind, blocking her path solidly. She withdraws slightly, deftly passing the ball away. Romain receives the ball along the sideline. As he fields the pass, Odd flies in, knocking the ball up into the air. Every pair of eyes on the field tracks it's course. It lands behind Erika, in front of Shane. He brings the ball under control and turns for a pass to Taelia on the far flank. Aelita steps in, deflecting the pass and sending the ball bouncing off the field into a neighboring game. Shane goes to retrieve it.

Everyone takes advantage of the break in the action to rest. Odd and Romain stand together on the far side of the field, tired but enjoying themselves. It had been a good, fun game so far. Like at all schools, P.E. activities are met with varying levels of enthusiasm by students. On the other fields, games progress haphazardly, with half-hearted dribbling and passing occasionally interrupted by sudden spurts of action. On field one, everyone was engaged, each for their own reason. Ulrich and Erika had played hard, two competitive players facing off. But there was no fouling, nothing malicious between them. Odd and Romain were both enjoying themselves. Odd would charge in, dribbling wildly, trying to find a weakness in Romain's steady defense. Romain would take the ball and counterattack, but Odd would just manage to knock the ball away in time. Aelita and Taelia were an even match in skills as well as looks, waging a battle of their own along the other sideline.

Shane returns with the soccer ball, and the game resumes. He throws it in to Taelia, who gets behind Aelita and dribbles quickly downfield, Aelita right behind her. Sissi comes over to help. Sensing Aelita's energy, and not a big fan of Taelia herself, they work together and pin her against the sideline. Taelia tries to center the ball to Erika, but it rebounds off Aelita's leg and back against her own before landing out of bounds. Satisfied, Aelita retrieves the ball as Taelia drops back without a word. Aelita throws in, getting the ball to Ulrich. He tries to find a way past Erika, dribbling and spinning like she had minutes ago. He almost slips by on the right, but within moments she recovers and catches up, stopping him again. Aelita cuts in and forward past Taelia for a pass, and Ulrich sends the ball to her. Moving quickly, Ulrich dodges left around Erika, trying to get open again.

Aelita dribbles upfield as fast as she can, knowing Taelia is right behind her. On the small field, she is running out of space. She doesn't have the right angle for a shot, and looks over to Ulrich. Despite his efforts, Erika runs right with him. Then, Odd catches her eye. He breaks away from Romain, sprinting, cutting towards the goal. Aelita smiles. Why not? Before Taelia can reach her, she kicks the ball up into the air, towards the goal. It's a crazy shot, flying towards the left side goal-cone. Will it go in? Holly dives desperately - and then Odd flies in, leaping headfirst. He meets the ball perfectly with his forehead, knocking it back on course towards the right side of the goal, and it flies between the two cones for a score.

"Odd the Magnificent strikes again!" he crows, jumping up without a scratch. He and Aelita share a triumphant high-five as they return to their side of the field. Shane goes again to get the ball. Emily comes out of goal, and for a minute the team celebrates together.

"You see that!" Odd calls to Romain.

"Watch out Odd, the next one I shoot might have your name on it!" yell Romain in return, joking.

Shane returns from behind their goal and tosses the ball to Erika, who dribbles it up to center field. Done celebrating, Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, Sissi, and Emily takes their positions again. Erika boots a pass over to Taelia, and she squeezes past Aelita, then centers the ball to Erika again. Romain swings down on the far flank, and together they make another push towards team two's goal.

Aelita quickly changes out of her gym clothes in the locker room. All around her, dozens of girls are doing the same, donning their school clothes once more. The fastest among them are already heading for the exit. Taelia Serrano tosses her gym shirt onto the bench, one locker over. As always, they both just mind their own business. Erika walks over to the pair, all dressed out, with her white bag over her shoulder.

"Good playing," she says, addressing Taelia. Her voice conveys neither warmth or malice, just respect of ability. "You too, Aelita," she adds, as she turns towards the double doors leading out of the changing room. Taelia and Aelita instinctively glance at each other, and stiffly get back to their changing. Taelia finishes, then slams her locker shut and heads towards the locker room doors. Aelita throws her gym clothes into the locker, then closes the pressed-metal door. She maneuvers her way through the confined space between lockers, cluttered with clothing, backpacks, and classmates still dressing out, pushing the double doors of the locker room wide open. They spill open into the interior of the gym, and various girls talk as they make their way to the doors leading to the outside world on the far wall.

Spotting Taelia only a couple dozen paces ahead, Aelita sighs. Maybe she can give another go at stopping this, before it gets any later in the year. It was only a month and a half in… but 'the pink twins' was making it a lot longer. It wasn't really Taelia's fault… but aside from that, couldn't she stop being so cold all the time? It certainly wasn't helping. She many not care about her bad rap, but it was bad for both of them - and Aelita cared. She needed a truce… she could ignore with the gossip, but not Taelia herself..

"Hey, Taelia, are you busy at lunch?"

Taelia stops walking, but doesn't turn around. "And what if I'm not?"

Here goes. "I wanted you to come-"

Taelia sighs, cutting her off. "Save the olive branch. I don't want one."

Aelita stiffens and shakes her head. Fine. "Taelia - what is your problem?"

Taelia turns to face her, taking the question seriously The other students walk around them as they head for the far door. "My problem… well, I've got plenty, most in math - and a few that aren't. …my 'problem' is that I didn't ask to be part of your group." Her voice rises a fraction. "The whole school loves you, and you know what? I don't want any part of it. I didn't ask to be your shadow, and I won't let a few _harebrained_ freshmen turn me into one."

Tamping down her temper, Aelita says, "you know, that would be a lot easier if you would just _drop it_ for a second and stop going it alone. I don't care about those idiots."

"Good, because you shouldn't. And neither do I. Talk to you later." With that, Taelia resumes walking for the door. Aelita drops back. She was impossible. 'And if she's going to be that way, I'm better off like this…' Aelita walks through the double doors, and out onto the concrete. On the far side of the concourse, Sissi waves a hand, talking with Yumi and Michelle, another student. Aelita smiles, and turns towards them. Halfway there, she casts a glance back over her shoulder. Taelia is sitting on a bench outside the gym, math textbook open and an open binder on her lap. 'Could that have been me?' she wonders, as she continues walking. 'No. She may look like me, but I would never be like her.'

Yumi strolls across the campus at noon, walking towards the cafeteria. Outside, there is already a crowd gathering, eager to eat. A dozen students stand in a tight cluster around the door, and two dozen more loiter nearby, talking in groups while they wait. More students are arriving every minute. Normally Odd could be found at the head of the cluster, banging away on the door, but not today. He, Ulrich, and Patrick stood in a cluster off to the side, talking. The others are spread out across the area.

Yumi walks towards the boys as Odd rambles on about their soccer game to Patrick. "Uh, yeah - Sissi was actually pretty good. I think she and Aelita enjoyed taking on Taelia." Odd pauses, getting back to his main story. "Anyway, right after that, Aelita gave a perfect cross, and I headered it right in! Holly dove too early." He slows down a little. "I kinda felt bad for her. I didn't celebrate too much, did I?"

"_Odd the Magnificent_ may have been laying it on a little thick - don't worry about it, it's fine!" Ulrich laughs, seeing Odd's distraught face. "Odd, this is the third new student you've fallen for this week!"

"Hey, I have not _fallen_ for her!" Odd says angrily. "I just felt a little sorry for her, that's all!" He pauses. "Besides, uh, you and _Erika_ were having tons of fun duking it out over there, I - I bet you two -"

"Oh, come on, Odd," says Ulrich, stiffening. "That's a low blow, don't you think? And a desperate one at that."

Yumi had heard enough. "What's a low blow?" she asks seriously, walking up behind Ulrich, dropping a hand on his shoulder.

Ulrich jerks involuntarily, startled. "Uh, n - nothing."

Yumi continues staring at him seriously for a moment, but can't hold it for long and then cracks up laughing, almost doubled over. Patrick and Odd join in.

Ulrich stands in the center of of the group, throughly embarrassed. "Hey! You guys can really - Yumi, you can be a real pain some times, you know that?" He jabs her shin with his foot.

Just then, the door to the cafeteria is thrown open, and students begin piling in for lunch. Odd immediately straightens up and runs for the door.

"Hey! That's not fair!" He gets caught in the crowd, and despite his jostling is forced to wait slowly for his turn to enter. Patrick also joins the crowd hungrily.

Yumi straightens up to see Ulrich, looking downcast. "Come on, let's go get something to eat." She smiles and extends a hand.

Ulrich looks up, and gives her a small smile in return. He takes her hand tightly in his, and they turn towards the cafeteria.

William grabs his tray from the back of the cafeteria and heads over the to their usual table. Most of the group is there, although Jeremy, Emily, and Theo haven't arrived yet. Aelita is sitting at the end, stirring her soup wistfully. William sets his tray down next to her and takes a seat.

"Hey Aelita, what's up," he says cordially, raising an eyebrow and smiling.

"Ah, nothing much."

"Cat got your tongue?"

"William, not now."

"C'mon, tell me," he presses, smiling wider and giving her shoulder a little nudge, then another.

She relents, a small smile breaking through. "Alright, alright… it's just Taelia-"

"'Pink twins' getting to you already? C'mon, you've had it worse than a few underclassmen with shoddy one-liners."

"No, it's not really that-"

"Good. I've been teaching them some better ones, and I didn't want them to go to waste."

"William!" Aelita tries to keep a stern face as she glares at William's wildly grinning one.

"Shh, keep your voice down, you'll attract them!" he jokes.

Aelita raises a fist to smack him.

"Hey, hey, no hitting," he says, mock-seriously, holding up a finger like one would for a pet.

Aelita lowers her fist - then jabs him with a rabbit punch to the arm the moment he looks away.

"Ow…" William rubs his arm, but grins. "See? Hitting something just feels good every once and awhile."

She rolls her eyes. She isn't about to be baited back into last week's conversation.

"So, what were you saying about Taelia?"

Aelita sighs. "I was saying that we met again today."

"Did something happen at the soccer game today?" William asks casually.

"Stop playing sly William, you have inside information," says Emily, appearing behind them both with a tray. "Scooch."

William and Aelita slide down the bench to make room, and Emily joins them, setting down her tray.

"So what was that going on between you and Taelia?" she asks. "I saw you both after gym."

"Nothing, just my last stab at playing diplomat. She isn't bothered by our little 'involuntary relationship' - as long as I stay away."

"She seems lonely," observes William.

"Lonely? She likes it that way." says Emily. "Did you see how she treated Naomi in science? She _uses_ people. No wonder she doesn't really have any friends - just her study group. Anyone who isn't useful to her, she can't be bothered to care about."

"Unlike us," says William nicely, taking the edge off her rant.

"Bet on it," Emily says, resting her head on his shoulder for a moment.

Aelita smiles, watching them. They really were happy together. A testament to the new William… Aelita sighs, taking a bite and looking down the table at Ulrich and Yumi, who seem to be sharing a moment, laughing together. Farther down, Patrick, Odd, and Sissi are talking. Theo is absent - he must be at a different table. Where was _her_ boyfriend, anyway?

Right on cue, Jeremy walks through the cafeteria door, a full twenty minutes late to lunch. His laptop case tangles under his arm as he picks up a tray, gets his food - one advantage to coming to so late: no line - and walks towards the table.

He spies Aelita, but there isn't any room left, and so instead takes the final seat at the very far opposite corner, next to Odd.

"Hey Einstein, you get me anything?" Odd asks in way of greeting, patting the bench seat and squeezing in to admit Jeremy, who unceremoniously begins chowing down.

"Talk later Odd," Jeremy mumbles through a full mouth. Of all people, Odd can understand the need for food.

"You'd better hurry," says Patrick, glancing down at his watch. "What were you doing?"

Jeremy chews for a few seconds and swallows down his mouthful before speaking. "I, uh, needed to stop by the office after class. A letter from my dad got mis-mailed, they had it in the office for me to pick up."

Patrick nods, smiling. "My mom sent me tons of letters in 6th. Parents worry to much sometimes."

"Or not enough," interjects Odd before Jeremy can respond, winking and twirling his fork, to the amusement of everyone. The conversation dives into a recounting of Odd's greatest misadventures as the end of lunch approaches. If he was right, then he'd just bailed out Einstein. If not, no harm done.

After another ten minutes, they all rise from their seats and walk for the door. Outside, they all split off towards their respective classes. Odd watches, though, as Jeremy angles towards Yumi and Ulrich. Yuppers, he was right… Odd spots William and Aelita, talking off to the side.

"Hey William! Aelita!" Odd calls and beckons them over, and then begins walking towards Jeremy, Yumi, and Ulrich.

Jeremy turns away from Yumi and Ulrich just in time to see Odd arrive, with William and Aelita in tow. "Oh - good timing, I was just -"

"I know," says Odd.

"What?"

"Hmm," says Odd. He squints at Jeremy, pretending to be thinking hard. "A week's dessert says that you've been working up in your room, and that you've found a new quantum computer for us. True or false, Einstein?" At the mention of Odd betting dessert, all heads swivel his way - but a moment later, Odd's betting habits are the last thing on their minds. Everyone faces Jeremy expectantly.

"How -" says Jeremy, flabbergasted.

"Because _you_, good buddy, can't lie," says Odd, grinning ear to ear. "That's a week's -"

"But I didn't bet!" protests Jeremy.

"Uh, Jeremy - I hate to break it up, but don't we have something more important to be talking about?" Ulrich says, stepping in. "Uh… we _do_, right? Just making sure," he adds quickly.

"Sorry," says Jeremy, and he turns away from Odd, shifting back into presentation mode. "Yeah, we do. I was up in my room, working on my computer. During class, I was thinking that we should expand our search from just the local newspaper - how much stuff do they really cover, anyway? I figured the Internet was a better place to look. So I was doing some web searches - Google, scientific magazines, recently published research papers, just the quick stuff. Sure enough, I found another quantum computer; this one's in Canada."

"A third one?" says Yumi. "I didn't think we were due for a mission for… well, awhile longer, at least. It's only been, what, two or three weeks?"

"Sure beats fighting XANA every other day," points out Ulrich.

"The sooner we go, the sooner we can get back to school," says Aelita, upbeat.

"Should we meet up after class again?" asks William.

"That's the plan," says Jeremy. "We'll meet in park. Drop off your bags and then we'll go right over. Sound good?"

"See you all there. One for the team?" asks Ulrich, putting his hand out, palm down. Yumi's hand drops on top of his, then Aelita's, Jeremy's, Odd's, and William's large hand on top. They were the Lyoko Warriors. As one, they all pull their hands away. The meeting concluded, they gather their things, and split off once more to attend afternoon classes.

The rusted manhole cover slides back, lighting up the steel-runged ladder that gives access to the sewer below. Two girls and four boys climb down, and the manhole is sealed once more, leaving only the half-light of the sewer. They set off down the walkway in a pack, riding one after the other in the diffuse light afforded by the tunnels. At the factory, they board the aging cargo elevator, which disappears down the shaft. Jeremy steps out at the control room, and the heavy door closes shut behind him. The others continue descending, and arrive at their final destination: the scanner room.

In Sector 5, the platform screeches to a halt at the Skid hanger, and disgorges its five passengers. They move at a jog across the nondescript blue floor and come to a halt at the boarding platform, where they assume an 'x' formation. At a command from Jeremy, they all disappear. The Skid's small thrusters power on, lifting it up and maneuvering it clear of Sector 5. With only a slight pause, it enters the quantum sea, leaving Lyoko behind.

Aelita was in the cockpit, monitoring the Skid as she sends it into a vertical climb towards the surface of the sea. They'll break through the surface in three, two, one… they emerge - then immediately, a deafening crunch and a screeching, grating noise piece the cockpit, and the whole ship shudders. The instrument panel in front of her lights up as she grabs the twin sticks - she barely registers hear Jeremy shouting something over the comm, mingled with the startled voices of the other occupants - and cuts the thrusters, putting the heavy virtual vessel in a split-second freefall before the anti-grav kicks in, suspending the Skid mere meters above the virtual sea. Sound returns to the world as her mind takes back over from instinct and the 'adrenaline rush' fades. She manually cuts the alarms and warning lights in the cockpit, and shakes her head to refocus her thoughts… she had hoped never to hear that noise again, the piecing screech as the Skid was toppled by a mortal blow from the Kolossus, with her inside…

"Aelita, are you all right! What's happening!" Jeremy's voice breaks in.

"I'm all right - Jeremy, we're still here!" Aelita calls back.

"Whew!…" Jeremy sighs in relief.

"Everybody all right now there?" Aelita calls down to the NavSkids.

"Still here, Princess," comes Odd's voice, rattled.

"I'm alright!" says Yumi, rubbing her shoulder.

"Check me off." Ulrich.

"…it's a good thing this things have harnesses," calls William. A distant clunk is heard as he replaces his blade along the side of the NavSkid, as it had been jarred loose by their entrance. "Good to go."

"What just happened?" asks Jeremy.

"I think… we just hit the ceiling," says Aelita, looking out the cockpit window.

Outside, the light is dim. A few brown, uneven columns rise from the sea. Not far past them, the low light quickly fades to darkness. The twisted columns support an earthen-like ceiling, looming over their heads and extending into the far-off blackness all around… were they in a cavern?

"Lights," Aelita whispers in an instinctively low voice, turning on the floodlights positioned across the Skid. The bright beam above the cockpit cuts a hole in the darkness, reveals another rocky column, and at the very edge of it's light, the wall of the cavern far beyond.

"Well, this is different," says Ulrich, peering through his viewport. "Talk about dark…"

"Jeremy, it appears we're in some sort of cave, or cavern. Do you have anything?" asks Aelita.

"Give me a minute, I'm having trouble pulling up a map. The computer's being stubborn. Cameras…" Jeremy pulls up the automated camera feed and looks over the scene, beams of light highlighting the scattered columns in the darkness. "Wow, you guys weren't kidding."

"Yeah, about as gloomy as they come," says William.

"What now?" asks Yumi.

"I'm… not sure," says Jeremy. ""That was quite a collision. The shields are down to twenty-six percent, but they did their job. Hull integrity all reads green. It may take awhile, but they'll recover." Pause. "I still can't get the mapping program to access the layout files, something isn't meshing quite right."

"I don't see much prospect for exploration," says Odd, commenting on the scenery.

"Besides, I don't see a fall being a lot of fun…" says Yumi warily, the sea right below.

"I'll get to work on the AI interface, can you guys… just sit there?"

"We'll just hang out for a bit," says Ulrich wryly.

"Jeremy, transfer the mapping protocols to me," says Aelita. "I'll play around with them while you work."

Odd stretches restlessly in the confines of his NavSkid as the minutes tick by. Total silence… the normally inaudible hum of the Skid whispers in his ears, at the very limit of even Lyoko-enhanced hearing. Was that the shields recharging? No, more likely the hum of the two Einsteins' brains churning… how could they work in this silence? Odd's foot brushes the pod's side, producing a small _bump_. He knocks it again, this time deliberately. Hmm. Experimenting, he touches the front of the NavSkid's interior with a single claw, drawing it down across the surface. Darn, no screech. 'Wait, why would I make a screech if nobody else can hear it? What about…' He raps the side of the pod with his knuckles. Again, harder. Could Ulrich or William hear him? What if they were rapping on their pods, wondering if he could hear them, right now? For the thousandth time, Odd mentally laments the tiny windows on the NavSkids. He longs to break the silence, but finds himself unable to do so in the utter silence that envelops him. Hurry up, Einsteins!

A pleasant pinging sound rewards her latest attempted permutation. "Jeremy, I've got it," Aelita calls cheerfully. She vaguely hears Odd exhale a massive breath from below, audible even over the comm system.

"Great job!" Jeremy exclaims. "Now let's take a look…" Once again he prompts the mapping program, and mercifully it interfaces, displaying the cavern.

"Hmm. It's a cavern, no doubt about it. Not much to see… it looks the columns and cavern walls don't go much beneath the surface. There aren't any more chambers like this one I can see; we got lucky coming up right here." He pauses. "Aha, here we go!"

What've you got, Jeremy?" asks William.

"Tunnels, and lots of 'em. They extend up through the ceiling. And they just seem to go on, and on…"

"Cool, you guys up for some spelunking?" asks Odd.

"_Spelunking_?" asks Ulrich incredulously, putting extra emphasis on the second syllable.

"C'mon, you don't know that word? I used to go all the time with my uncle! …nobody? Yumi, Ulrich, William? Aelita, Einstein?" The Skid is silent for a moment.

"You guys really need to get out more," he grumbles.

"We get out plenty," retorts Jeremy. "We just don't… spelunk?"

"You can't say 'spelunk,'" says Odd, irritated. "There are _spelunkers_, and they go _spelunking_, but you don't _spelunk_… wow, that _is_ weird isn't it - and hey, wait a minute! Is it possible Odd the Magnificent knows something you don't?" he exclaims with a jolt. "Ha! You're slipping, Jeremy!" There is a collective eyeroll as they all imagine Odd doing a victory jig in his NavSkid.

"Back _on_ task," says Jeremy, "we now have some tunnels to explore. So yes, some spelunking to do. Anyone up for a chance to stretch their legs?"

"I think it's safe to assume your answer is 'yes,'" says Aelita, smiling, before Odd can answer back. "Will the Skid fit in any of the tunnels?

Jeremy manipulates the wireframe map awkwardly, trying to gauge size. "You might be able to squeeze a little into some of the larger crevices, but you wouldn't get very far. The tunnels constrict pretty tightly in places, and twist their way up through the rock. Some areas level out higher up - but there's no way the Skid would get there. You'll have to park here."

"How do we get out?" asks Yumi. "There's no place to disembark, and I'm not crazy about going for a swim. I've done it once, and I'd rather not do it again."

"I second that," agrees Aelita. "Not to mention that there's no place for a tower," she adds.

"Hmm… "says Jeremy, mulling it over. "Let's try this… give me a second, I'll need to make a quick trip to Sector 5… alright, programming tower." A pillar of light shimmers next to the Skid, revealing a wireframe that quickly resolves into a familiar Lyoko tower. Hovering in midair, the tower's roots hang just over the sea. "Dock away." The Skid attaches to the tower, and Jeremy activates the it; the tower radiates green light, dispelling the immediate darkness like a candle in a dark room.

"Okay, now for the tricky part…" Jeremy calls up their vehicles, outside the Skid. On his keyboard, he begins entering coordinates. This one would have to be manual… Two decimal places? Three, just to be safe.

Only Odd, positioned on the right side of the Skid, can see their vehicles appear. "Uh, Jeremy, are you thinking what I think your thinking?" he asks, all trace of bravado done from his voice.

"Congratulations, my spelunking friend, you get to be the guinea pig. Don't make any sudden moves!"

"Hey wait a sec-" Odd's protests are for naught, and he disappears, reappearing right above his OverBoard.

"Whahao!" cries Odd, sticking out his arms to balance himself. He quickly recovers and gains a normal stance on the board. "Ok, that was seriously not cool!"

In the control room, Jeremy takes his finger off the keyboard, one keystroke away from transporting Odd safely back aboard the Skid. He had the utmost trust in his friend's balancing abilities - but it's always better to have a plan B. Jeremy wasn't about to let anything happen to his friends.

"Hey, you made it, didn't you? Alright, who's next?"

Ulrich appears outside, landing in the seat of his OverBike with a thud. Odd flies past him in a lazy arc on his OverBoard, warming up, and Yumi drops down onto the OverWing.

In the cockpit, Aelita enters her own teleport command. "Disembarking."

She appears upright, but immediately inverts as gravity takes ahold, plunging downward like a high-dive gymnast. She activates her wings, pulling up gracefully over the sea. Suddenly enjoying herself, she gracefully spreads her arms wide like a second set of wings. The black sea reflects the green light cast by tower as she skims over the surface. Having indulged enough, she pulls away to meet up with Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich next to the Skid.

"Uh, Jeremy, I don't have a vehicle," points out William from below.

"Need a ride, William?" says Ulrich. "Trust-fall, Lyoko style."

"No need," says Jeremy. "William, stand still." Jeremy enters the command. 'I'm _pretty_ sure towers are solid on top…'

William finds himself balances precariously on the top of the tower. His sword throws him sightly off balance, but one good look over the edge at the sea below and he hurriedly compensates.

Ulrich pulls up beside the tower. "Taxi?" he says humorously as William throws a leg over the seat and mounts up. "Where to, Jeremy?"

"There's a few tunnels…" he says, examining the map. "The closest one is a couple hundred meters to the Skid's right."

"Let's stick together," calls Yumi from her OverWing.

Jeremy nods. "Agreed. Fly safe."

The pack of three vehicles - and one angel - peels away from the Skid, and searches the cavern ceiling for the opening Jeremy indicated. As they get father from the Skid, it becomes difficult to see, and their eyes strain to locate the crevice. Finally, Odd's keen eyes spot the entrance, and they all disappear inside.

The OverBoard's thrusters flare as Odd leads the charge into the tunnel. The tunnel corkscrews into the rock almost vertically, and Odd grips the front of his OverBoard to keep ascending. Behind him, Yumi does likewise, gripping the handlebar with both hands. Ulrich levels off slightly and spirals around the perimeter of the tunnel to keep gaining altitude. Only Aelita doesn't appear to be having trouble, and she flits about overhead, waiting for the others to catch up.

Jeremy codes away from the control room, building an interface between himself and the AI, while keeping tabs on their excursion. Hmm… still trying to get through the tunnels. But if there's a passage, it has to lead somewhere, right? The Skid was on standby, docked to the tower. It's shields hummed away, rebuilding the energy lost during the crash. In all likelihood, it would still be regenerating by the time they got back to Lyoko. True, they were potent, but the recharging period left something to be desired. Maybe when he had the time, he could toy with the generator flow rate. Another item to his list of improvements.

Yumi followed the contours of the tunnel as it weaved to the left and right, but never enough to level out. Her arms felt numb from maintaining their grip on the handlebar. What she would give for Aelita's wings… The tunnel walls had steadily expanded as they went up, and were now so large the Kadic science building could be wedged in, with room to spare - a far cry from the tiny entrance. Crevices the size of classrooms pockmarked the walls, and where the tunnel occasionally slanted to the side, massive stalactites the size of SUVs loomed.

"Aelita, do you read me?" calls Jeremy. "I'm ready with the interface program. Have you guys had any luck?"

"Nothing much to report," Yumi hears Aelita reply. "The tunnels gotten bigger, but we haven't actually found anything. It just goes on and on. I'm not sure we should go much higher… wait, I think I see something - hold on a sec." Aelita zooms ahead, easily outstripping the vehicles and passing around the next bend. "There's more light up here, I think there's an exit. Jeremy, can you tell us what ahead?"

"It looks like tunnel opens up into another cavern. It's big - other than that, I can't say."

Encouraged, they venture on. Ah, finally! The tunnel walls suddenly drop away, and they find themselves in another cavern. And Jeremy was right on the sheer scale of the space. Forget classrooms, the entire campus could fit in here! And there's more light. Where was it coming from? It didn't seem to have a source, and yet every surface in the cavern was lit by a dim yellowish light that casted no shadows, giving the room a flat appearance. Gigantic rock protrusions stretched from one distant wall to the other, like high-tension wires - albeit, the diameter of a schoolbus. Dozens of them extended across the room at precarious angles, a flying hazard if there ever was one. A smattering of oversized stalactites hang from the ceiling, far above, and the corresponding stalagmites clutter the ground. Here and there are massive holes in the floor, entrances to other tunnels like the one they just exited.

Yumi slows quickly and maneuvers off the side of the gaping hole that was their exit, coming to a halt over solid ground with Aelita and Odd. Ulrich's OverBike finally emerges as well and set down, rolling to a halt by Aelita.

"This place is… huge," says Yumi in wonder.

"See anything interesting?" asks Jeremy.

"Just a really, really, really big cave," says Ulrich. "There are stalagmites the size of trucks. But if you were hoping for a tower or data interface, you're out of luck."

"Alright, then I think it's time we have a word with our sponsor," says Jeremy, cracking his knuckles. "Be on the lookout."

He pulls up the program… hopefully it won't give him as much trouble as the map. All the indicators read green; he has a secure connection - but to what? The interface can receive audio, video, images, text, or any other format he could possibly need… but he wasn't getting anything. 'Okay, then. I'll knock first. …what do you say to an AI?'

Hesitantly, Jeremy types the timeless greeting: _Hello?_

Or than was the plan; all he got out was 'he-' before his screen was filled with 1s and 0s, and his headset filled with an ear-splitting crackling. He whipped off the headset, massaging his ear. Well, it was using binary, that was a start. The text window is filled to the brim with digits, and more whizz by as the scroll bar along the side rapidly shrinks to a tiny point. Jeremy plugs the ever-increasing block of numbers into a binary translator, and mercifully, the hundred-and-counting pages of raw binary into assembly language. Better… Looking over the code, Jeremy realized what was happening: he was literally getting a copy of everything the AI was thinking and doing; it was a window into the 'mind' of an AI! It was amazing… he could spend months looking over all of this! But it didn't do him any good for having a simple conversation. Jeremy set up a program to capture the stream of data, then got to work on the hard part: teaching.

Jeremy enters the following on his console: - _hello?_

All he got back in response was a long chain of binary that translated to: Directive: AcceptData.

He sighed. This was going to take some time. He keyed the mic transmitter.

"…hang tight, you guys. This could take awhile."

After half an hour of back and forth, the AI could finally comprehend him, and produce a legible response. It wasn't that it couldn't think; it simply couldn't communicate those thoughts.


End file.
